DBT Theory and Skills Practice: An On-Demand DBT Symposium

Date course created: April 2025

Deepen your DBT practice with a training designed for real-world clinical complexity!

This on-demand training will provide an overview of the core DBT interventions and discuss how to provide DBT flexibly with responsiveness to different presentations and cultural populations.

You’ll explore the foundational theory and structure of DBT alongside engaging clinical material, including case examples, experiential exercises, and more. Special attention is given to working with diverse diagnostic presentations, cultural contexts, and treatment settings: empowering you to adapt DBT interventions with confidence.

The course also includes practice examples for each of DBT’s four core skills modules: Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Distress Tolerance. Gain not only familiarity with the skills, but insight into how to tailor them effectively to clients.

Whether you’re integrating DBT into a broader treatment approach or refining your skills as a DBT provider, this training supports you in delivering DBT that is both grounded and flexible: true to the model, and truly responsive to your clients.

**This is a 11.5-CE noninteractive, self-paced online video course delivered in home study format via an industry-standard online learning platform**

Agenda:

Video 1:
00:00 – 00:40: Day 1 Overview, Origins of DBT, PTSD and Eating Disorders, Crisis Management
00:40 – 01:21: Limitations of Traditional Talk Therapy, Phone Coaching, Therapy & Consultation Teams in DBT
01:21 – 01:50: Introduction to Distress Tolerance, Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation Techniques
01:50 – 02:50: TIPP Skill, Paced Breathing, Distraction Skills, Taste & Imagery as Skills and Soothing
02:50 – 03:33: Reality Acceptance, Navigating Surrender and Agency, The Non-Linear Journey of Recovery
03:33 – 04:12: Radical Acceptance, Resentment and Healing After Betrayal, Acceptance of Limitations in Therapy
04:12 – 04:56: Emotions, Introduction to Opposite Action Skill, Managing Anger Effectively
04:56 – 05:47: High-Stress Situations, Problem Solving, Exploring Social Anxiety and Peer Judgment

Video 2:
00:00 – 00:35: Day 2 Overview, Destructive Relationships, Naivety in Setting Boundaries, Client Goals in DBT
00:35 – 01:25: The DEAR MAN Framework, Self-Compassion vs. Self-Criticism, Practicing Assertiveness
01:25 – 02:10: Role Play as a Tool, Interfering Behaviors, Communication Strategies, Reinforcing Positive Behavior
02:10 – 03:00: Therapeutic Connection, Framing Difficult Conversations, Relationship Goals, Validation in DBT
03:00 – 04:00: Navigating Personal Challenges, Empathic Failures, Resources for Culturally Responsive DBT
04:00 – 04:52: Integrating Values with Rational Thinking, Wise Mind, Balancing Gratitude and Acknowledging Struggles
04:52 – 05:25: Self-Compassion, Balancing Doing & Being Mind, Modifications for Eating Disorders or Substance Use Treatment
05:25 – 05:52: Friendship Dynamics, Exposure Techniques, Intervening in Future Situations, Building a Consultation Team

Objectives:

This training will provide participants clinical knowledge and tools to:

a). After completing this training, participants will be able to describe the core tenets, principles, and underlying theory of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).

b). After completing this training, participants will be able to explain how the DBT model fits the presentation of Borderline Personality Disorder.

c). After completing this training, participants will be able to define distress tolerance and its purpose.

d). After completing this training, participants will be able to identify distress tolerance skills and their applications for common client problems.

e). After completing this training, participants will be able to explain core crisis survival skills.

f). After completing this training, participants will be able to explain the various functions of emotions and the role of emotion regulation.

g). After completing this training, participants will be able to describe the Opposite Action skill and provide examples of its application.

h). After completing this training, participants will be able to understand emotion regulation strategies and how to integrate them into therapy.

i). After completing this training, participants will be able to state various examples of interpersonal effectiveness skills.

j). After completing this training, participants will be able to explain how to help clients practice interpersonal effectiveness skills for common interpersonal challenges.

k). After completing this training, participants will be able to demonstrate the unique use of mindfulness skills within DBT.

l). After completing this training, participants will be able to explain the Wise Mind skill and its application to common client concerns.

Target Audience:

Mental Health Clinicians & Therapists, Social Workers, Psychologists, Marriage & Family Therapists, Counselors, School Personnel, Youth Development Workers, Healthcare Workers.

Instructional Level: Intermediate

Instructor(s): Emily Wharton, PsyD

Material Author(s): Emily Wharton, PsyD

Dr. Emily Wharton is a Clinical Psychologist providing psychotherapy to individuals and couples in her private practice, and a Clinical Instructor at the Cognitive Behavior Institute, where she teaches courses in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Dr. Wharton has also served in roles of Clinical Assistant Professor (Affiliated) of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine, and licensed clinical psychologist in the Palo Alto VA. She has provided supervision and training for VA and Stanford psychiatry residents, medical students, and psychology trainees in ACT, DBT, and MI. Dr. Wharton trained at the PGSP-Stanford PsyD Consortium, San Francisco VA, UCSF, and Palo Alto VA. Dr. Wharton has also served as the Member-At-Large Director for the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Sciences. Dr. Wharton has given lectures and trainings for the Palo Alto VA, Stanford University, and the Association for Contextual and Behavioral Science. Dr. Wharton has published papers and book chapters on ACT for PTSD, ACT for moral injury, mindfulness practices for anxiety disorders, and group trauma-focused CBT for parents of preterm infants. Learn more about Dr. Wharton at www.DrEmilyWharton.com/about-me.

For additional information about this course, the instructors, or the material authors, please contact Content Assistance at content@onlinececredits.com.

Course Materials & Delivery Method:

• Course Materials – The course is composed of a recorded presentation and written materials (e.g. a slide deck and/or other worksheets, manuals, or handouts as provided by the instructor). The slide deck and any additional worksheets or handouts (as provided by the instructor) are made available inside the Lesson module after a course is purchased.
• Delivery Method – This course is a recorded asynchronous, self-paced webinar training, and there is no access time limit or due date to complete it once enrolled. The enrolled learner will stream the recorded presentation and view the materials from their internet connected device via an industry-standard online learning platform.

CE Approvals:

Online CE Credits has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 6795. Programs that do not quality for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Online CE Credits is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs.

Mind Works Professional Education, Inc. DBA Online CE Credits, #1974, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: July 23, 2024 – July 23, 2025. Social workers completing this course receive 11.5 clinical continuing education credits.

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