DBT Course

Lesson 1 • Core Assumptions and Treatment Targets

Outlines DBT's non-judgmental assumptions about clients and the hierarchy of treatment targets. Sets expectations for how clinicians prioritize problems across the full treatment.

Lesson 2 • Biosocial Theory of Emotion Dysregulation

Explains biological sensitivity and invalidating environments as co-causes of pervasive emotion dysregulation. Provides the etiological framework that justifies DBT's treatment targets.

Lesson 3 • Dialectical Worldview and Philosophy

Introduces dialectics as the synthesis of opposing truths, especially acceptance and change. Connects philosophical stance to clinical strategies used throughout the treatment.

Lesson 1 • Skills Training Group Mode

Describes the psychoeducational group format that teaches the four DBT skill modules. Distinguishes group from individual therapy in function and facilitation approach.

Lesson 2 • Phone Coaching Mode

Explains between-session coaching calls for crisis skill generalization, not therapy. Clarifies boundaries and protocols that protect both client and clinician.

Lesson 3 • Consultation Team Mode

Presents the therapist consultation team as treatment for the therapist, preventing burnout and drift. Demonstrates how team functions as a community of practice.

Lesson 4 • Individual Therapy Mode

Covers the weekly individual session's purpose: motivating clients and applying skills to specific problems. Anchors the chapter by establishing the primary therapeutic relationship.

Lesson 1 • What Skills: Observe, Describe, Participate

Introduces the three 'what' skills that define the objects and actions of mindful attention. Establishes the behavioral language DBT uses to operationalize mindfulness.

Lesson 2 • How Skills: Non-Judgmentally, One-Mindfully, Effectively

Covers the three 'how' skills that define the quality of mindful engagement. Complements the what skills by specifying the manner of practice.

Lesson 3 • Teaching Mindfulness in Group Settings

Provides facilitation strategies for leading mindfulness practices with diverse and dysregulated clients. Bridges theory to group delivery skills needed in the skills training mode.

Lesson 1 • TIPP Skills for Physiological Regulation

Teaches Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing, and Paired muscle relaxation as body-based crisis tools. Grounds the module in neurobiological mechanisms of emotion regulation.

Lesson 2 • Radical Acceptance and Turning the Mind

Presents radical acceptance as full acknowledgment of reality without approval or resignation. Connects acceptance-based skills to the dialectical philosophy introduced in Chapter 1.

Lesson 3 • Crisis Survival Skills Overview

Introduces the purpose of crisis survival skills: tolerating pain without making situations worse. Frames distress tolerance as a bridge to longer-term change skills.

Lesson 4 • IMPROVE the Moment Skills

Teaches imagery, meaning, prayer, relaxation, one thing, vacation, and encouragement as in-the-moment coping tools. Rounds out the crisis survival toolkit with cognitive and spiritual strategies.

Lesson 1 • Understanding and Naming Emotions

Teaches the DBT model of emotions as full-system responses with prompting events, interpretations, and action urges. Builds the emotional vocabulary clients need for all subsequent skills.

Lesson 2 • Reducing Vulnerability: PLEASE Skills

Covers physical illness, eating, avoiding substances, sleep, and exercise as biological vulnerability factors. Links lifestyle factors to emotional baseline and long-term regulation capacity.

Lesson 3 • Opposite Action and Check the Facts

Presents two primary change strategies: verifying whether emotions fit facts and acting opposite to action urges. Provides the core change mechanism within the emotion regulation module.

Lesson 4 • Building Positive Emotions

Teaches accumulating short-term positives and building a life worth living through long-term goals. Addresses the role of positive affect in reducing emotional vulnerability.

Lesson 1 • Goals of Interpersonal Effectiveness

Distinguishes three interpersonal goals: obtaining objectives, maintaining relationships, and keeping self-respect. Provides the decision framework clients use before choosing a skill set.

Lesson 2 • FAST for Self-Respect Effectiveness

Teaches fair, apologies, stick to values, and truthful as skills for maintaining integrity in interactions. Addresses the link between self-respect and long-term emotional well-being.

Lesson 3 • DEAR MAN for Objective Effectiveness

Teaches the DEAR MAN acronym for assertively requesting or refusing while maintaining focus. Anchors the section in behavioral rehearsal and real-world application.

Lesson 4 • GIVE for Relationship Effectiveness

Covers gentle, interested, validate, and easy manner as skills for preserving relationships during conflict. Connects to validation strategies taught in the individual therapy mode.

Lesson 1 • Conducting a Chain Analysis in Session

Provides step-by-step procedures for collaboratively completing a chain analysis with a client. Develops the practical skill most central to DBT individual therapy sessions.

Lesson 2 • Using Chains for Treatment Planning

Demonstrates how patterns across multiple chain analyses inform case conceptualization and treatment goals. Advances students from single-session assessment to longitudinal clinical thinking.

Lesson 3 • Common Errors in Chain Analysis

Reviews frequent mistakes such as insufficient detail, therapist avoidance, and client non-collaboration. Builds quality control awareness essential for effective clinical practice.

Lesson 4 • Principles of Behavioral Chain Analysis

Explains chain analysis as a detailed functional assessment linking vulnerability factors to consequences. Establishes the conceptual foundation before introducing procedural steps.

Lesson 1 • Commitment Strategies in DBT

Covers devil's advocate, foot-in-the-door, door-in-the-face, and other commitment elicitation techniques. Addresses the challenge of building and sustaining client motivation for change.

Lesson 2 • Dialectical Strategies in Clinical Practice

Teaches entering the paradox, making lemonade, and other dialectical strategies for resolving therapeutic impasses. Applies the dialectical philosophy from Chapter 1 to live clinical moments.

Lesson 3 • DBT Case Conceptualization Framework

Integrates biosocial theory, behavioral analysis, and treatment targets into a comprehensive case formulation. Prepares students to develop individualized treatment plans for complex clients.

Lesson 4 • Validation Strategies Levels One Through Six

Presents the six levels of validation from attentiveness to radical genuineness as a graduated framework. Equips clinicians to calibrate validation precisely to client needs and context.