Current Training Formats Offered By DBTNZ
Below is a list and description of the Behavioral Tech training formats that we can offer in New Zealand. Larger (and more expensive) options such as the Intensive and Foundational trainings are offered less frequently and can be prompted by a ‘cornerstone’ agency that wants to implement DBT across their services (please get in touch if your agency is interested).
Occasionally, we also host other DBT events including training from visiting DBT experts. The easiest way to stay informed of all events is to sign-up for our email notices.
This page will be updated from time to time.
Quick links on this page:
- Introduction to DBT
- Skills Essentials
- Foundational training
- Intensive training
- Frequent training questions
Introduction to DBT
Duration: 2 days.
When to choose this training: Introduction to DBT covers the fundamentals of comprehensive DBT and introduces the full range of change and acceptance strategies. It covers some skills and how to teach them (but less than the Skills Essentials training). It does not include the set-up and running of skills groups. Choose this training if you want to learn about ‘full’ DBT and/or anticipate taking the treatment further such as one-day joining or starting a comprehensive DBT programme.
Who is it for: Anyone interested in an introduction to comprehensive DBT. Note it is assumed, but not required, that participants are registered mental health professionals.
Pre-requisites: None. However we recommend you have read the 1993 Core DBT text and the 2014 DBT Skills Training Manual prior to this event.
Training Description: This two-day workshop is an introduction to Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) intended for mental health professionals who wish to acquaint themselves with the treatment or who are considering further training in DBT. The training introduces change-based technology (behaviour therapy) with acceptance-based principles (validation), along with dialectical strategies that provide the balance of acceptance and change. It also highlights the frame of DBT and defines the modes and functions of comprehensive DBT. Methods of instruction include lecture, demonstration, and practice exercises to teach the principles and strategies of DBT.
This training is an update of the previous 2-day “Coping with Chaos” training.
Training Objectives:
- Describe the dialectical biosocial theory of borderline personality disorder (BPD) used to guide treatment planning.
- Identify DBT treatment targets and how to structure treatment for multi-problem individuals at high risk for life-threatening behaviours.
- Explain basic strategies used in DBT, including behaviour chain analysis, problem solving, validation, and dialectical strategies.
- Be able to implement some DBT strategies in your practice and decide if further DBT training is for you.
Skills Essentials
Duration: 2 days.
When to choose this training: Skills Essentials is a good 'get started' training for staff in a range of roles. It briefly covers the fundamentals of the treatment and focuses on the skills training component of DBT including setting up and running groups and introduces a number of skills and how to teach them. Choose this training if you want to get started quickly with a skills focus OR you have done a different training and want more depth on the nuance of skills training content, stylistics and groups.
Who is it for: Anyone interested in learning the fundamentals of DBT skills and skills training. Note it is assumed, but not required, that participants are registered mental health professionals.
Pre-requisites: None. However we recommend you have read the 2014 DBT Skills Training Manual prior to this event. Your learning will be greatly enhanced by owning a copy of this manual.
Training Description: This two-day workshop covers the fundamentals of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Skills: Core Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. Participants learn how to plan, structure, and conduct DBT skills classes. This workshop also addresses the targets for skills training, as well as how to apply fundamental DBT strategies in skills training. Extensive teaching and use of clinical examples are used to illustrate specific skills training procedures, assignment and review of homework with clients, and troubleshooting common skills training obstacles. This course is designed for all mental health professionals who want to learn to teach DBT skills or to improve their teaching with clients. This training will include the original DBT skills as developed by Dr. Linehan, and will incorporate material from her recently published DBT® Skills Training Manual, Second Edition.
Training Objectives:
Upon completion of this training, participants will be able to:
- Understand the dialectical nature of DBT skills training
- Identify the Strategies & Procedures required for effective teaching of DBT skills
- Be able to utilize recent updates to DBT Skills training
- Be familiar with DBT Skills Modules
- Know how to structure DBT skills training for specific populations and settings
- Effectively review DBT skills training homework
Foundational training
Duration: 5 days.
When to choose this training: Foundational training is for new members of Intensively trained DBT teams who want to get up to speed with the theory and practice of DBT. Choose this training if you have joined a DBT team that has been Intensively trained by DBTNZ, Behavioral Tech or its international affiliates.
Who is it for: new members of intensively trained teams.
Pre-requisites: You must be part of an existing team that has previously received DBT Intensive training. Participants should read the 1993 Core DBT text and the 2014 DBT Skills Training Manual prior to the event.
Training Description: This five-day training is designed specifically for individual therapists or skills trainers who are members of an intensively trained DBT team, but have not completed Intensive training themselves. It is meant to assist teams that have hired new staff or experienced turnover by allowing newer team members to get trained in the standard content of DBT. Lecture, video, role-play and small group exercises will be used to teach DBT theory and strategies in depth. Participants agree to attend the entire five days of training, do their best to learn the material, and participate in a willing, committed manner.
The training requires that participants work in an active DBT® program, participate in a consultation team, and will continue learning DBT with a mentor. Only people who have attended the full ten days of the Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Intensive Training™ are able to serve as mentors and sponsor team members to a Foundational Training.
Training Objectives:
- Participate in a DBT Consultation Team.
- Demonstrate Consultation Team strategies used in DBT.
- List the modes, the functions, and the typical treatment agreements made in DBT.
- Implement the structure, goals, and stages of DBT treatment.
- Teach the four DBT skills modules (Core Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance).
- Explain the Biosocial Model of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and other severe disorders in all required treatment contexts.
- Create DBT treatment plans for clients using targeting procedures.
- Explain the dialectical nature of DBT.
- Demonstrate how dialectics are used in DBT.
- Conduct Cue Exposure and Response Prevention.
- List the steps in Problem-Solving.
- Conduct complete Behavioural Chain Analyses and solution analyses.
- Implement the Cognitive-Behavioural strategies in DBT.
- Identify the levels of validation and the contexts in which they apply.
- Demonstrate the use of validation to balance the change strategies in treatment.
- Demonstrate the different communication strategies of DBT.
- Implement the DBT case management strategies.
- Implement telephone coaching and other generalization strategies of DBT.
- Apply suicide crisis protocols of DBT.
- Discuss the DBT research for different populations.
Intensive training
Duration: 10 days (in two block of 5 days, each 6 months apart) with a series of assignments and consultation support between the 2 blocks.
When to choose this training: Intensive DBT training is the ideal training for a team who wish to establish a comprehensive DBT programme. Comprehensive DBT involves providing all the modes of DBT: individual therapy, skills training, phone consultation and consultation team. This training includes teaching and practice regarding the wide range of core DBT theory and strategies. The first week is a heavy dose of teaching and practice. The 6-month period between weeks focuses on implementation in your organization. The final week reviews your efforts with consultation, problem solving and extended teaching. Choose this training is you are serious about establishing a DBT programme for people with multiple complex and risky problems.
Who is it for: The Intensive Training Course is designed to provide the training and consultation needed to build an effective treatment programme. DBT is a treatment that requires an ongoing consultation team. Therefore, the training is only open to teams consisting of 4-8 people. Individuals and teams of less than four will not be accepted. Each team member is expected to attend the entire 10 days.
Pre-requisites: All team members should have read the 1993 Core DBT text and the 2014 DBT Skills Training Manual prior to the event.
Training Description: The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training™ is a ten-day course designed for those who have begun learning DBT® methods from self-guided study of the treatment manuals and introductory workshops. This training is intended for teams that are invested in learning DBT to a high standard in order to better implement the treatment in their settings.
As DBT is a treatment that requires an ongoing consultation team, the Intensive Training is designed for treatment teams, not individual practitioners intending to practice alone.
A DBT team (minimum of 4*, maximum of 8) is a group of mental health professionals who meets at least weekly to assist each other in applying DBT in their practice setting. With the intent to provide the highest quality training experience, it is our goal to have a maximum of eight teams for each Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Intensive Training™. Teams should discuss and clarify their level of commitment prior to completing their application.
Training is conducted in two five-day sessions of instruction divided by six to nine months of home study. In Part 1, lectures, videotapes, and small group exercises are used to teach DBT theory and strategies in-depth. Between the first and second sessions, participants consolidate and apply what they have learned with the help of practice assignments. Between sessions, teams design and begin to implement their own DBT programs or to integrate DBT into an ongoing treatment setting. In Part 2, each team presents their work and receives expert consultation on specific cases and on their program, including protocols for specific treatment problems and adaptations of DBT.
The DBT Intensive Training involves rigorous preparation, training, and homework. Part 1 and Part 2 are both five full days of training. The course is designed to model basic elements of the treatment in an experiential way and to foster team development. Just as DBT requires clients to make a full commitment to treatment and to attend all sessions, DBT training requires Intensive participants to attend the entire training, do their best to learn the material, and participate in a willing, committed manner.
Training Objectives
Part 1:
- Participate in a DBT Consultation Team.
- Demonstrate Consultation Team strategies used in DBT.
- List the modes, the functions, and the typical treatment agreements made in DBT.
- Implement the structure, goals, and stages of DBT.
- Teach the four DBT® skills modules (Core Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance).
- Explain the diagnosis of Biosocial Model of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and other severe disorders in all required treatment contexts.
- Create DBT treatment plans for clients using targeting procedures.
- Explain the dialectical nature of DBT.
- Demonstrate how dialectics are used in DBT.
- Conduct Cue Exposure and Response Prevention.
- List the steps in Problem-Solving.
- Conduct complete Behavioural Chain Analyses and solution analyses.
- Implement the Cognitive-Behavioural strategies in DBT.
- Identify the levels of validation and the contexts in which they apply.
- Demonstrate the use of validation to balance the change strategies in treatment.
- Demonstrate the different communication strategies of DBT.
- Implement the DBT case management strategies.
- Implement telephone coaching and other generalization strategies of DBT.
- Apply suicide crisis protocols of DBT.
- Discuss the DBT research for different populations.
Part 2:
- Demonstrate comprehension of important concepts in DBT.
- Demonstrate the ability to apply important concepts in DBT.
- Demonstrate the ability to appropriately apply DBT strategies in my own cases and appropriately evaluate the use of DBT strategies in others' cases.
- Demonstrate use of DBT commitment strategies.
- Identify in-session dysfunctional behaviours and use DBT strategies to treat them.
- Use DBT strategies to better manage skills training problems.
- Identify team problems and use DBT strategies to resolve them.
- Design DBT service programs, appropriately implementing and modifying DBT protocols for my particular setting and patient population.
- Formulate plans to evaluate my program/services.
- Discuss the take-home exam assigned in Part 1 and consequently better understand important concepts in DBT.
- Discuss homework assignments involving the application of the treatment and consequently better understand how to apply the treatment.
- Understand and apply the treatment after my team's program presentation.
- Use techniques for strengthening and using the DBT consultation team.
- Practice the techniques of DBT by role-playing, as coached by the instructors and be better able to describe and apply treatment strategies.
- Teach mindfulness skills, interpersonal skills, and emotion regulation skills as detailed in the DBT skills training manual.
- View and discuss videotaped segments of DBT as modelled by expert therapists and be better able to describe and apply treatment strategies.
- Understand and apply the treatment after my team's case presentation.