Welcome to those who are coming to TBC for CBT to attend DBT Skills Group-Only ! We are excited that you chose to get started right away on learning skills to build your life worth living. It can seem overwhelming and confusing at first on how to make the most out of attending DBT Skills Group without being in the full program at TBC for CBT — here are some tips to get you started!

  1. This group is a psycho-educational group designed to teach you DBT skills while you are waiting for a TBC for CBT individual therapist to be assigned, OR if you have an outside therapist or other provider. Some exceptions can be made for clients who don’t have a therapist as long as you do not have any Stage 1 Life threatening behaviors or severe symptoms that need treatment. Although learning the DBT skills is an important part of DBT we want to be clear that attending a stand-alone DBT Skills Group without the rest of the DBT Treatment modalities is NOT Full Comprehensive, Adherent DBT treatment. DBT Skills Group is MOST effective when the client is working with a DBT therapist who knows the skills and can incorporate them into sessions and reinforce your use of these skills in your day to day life. Unless you have a DBT individual therapist here, TBC for CBT is not responsible for any clinical care other than simply providing you a place and structure to learn DBT skills. Any clinical care needed would be provided by a primary provider who will assume responsibility for any crises or treatment needs. If you are on the wait list for a TBC for CBT therapist, you will be notified when an opening becomes available and offered individual therapy to begin full, comprehensive DBT Treatment. Being in Skills-Only Group puts you ahead on the waitlist for an individual therapist. Group leaders will provide 30 minute “check-in” sessions once per module to see how things are going and to help you problem-solve any difficulties with the group. This is not individual therapy, and therefore treatment targets will not be addressed during these sessions.
  2. Currently, both of our adult groups are virtual. One of our Multi-family Adolescent DBT Skills groups are held in-person while the other is virtual. Our virtual groups are held on our HIPAA Compliant Zoom and are 2 hours with a 10-15 minute break. The Adult group fee is $80.00 per group unless you are receiving individual therapy or other services within TBC for CBT; in this case the fee is $70.00 per group. The Adolescent group is a Multi-family group that includes the teen client and one parent/guardian who must join them to the group sessions on a consistent basis. The Multi-Family Teen group is also 2 hours long with a 10-15min break, and the fee is $90.00 per group unless the client is receiving individual therapy or any other services at TBC for CBT; in this case the fee will be $80.00 per group. For those who wish to prepay a module at a time (paying for 6 sessions at a time), a $5 discount will be applied to each group when calculating the prepayment amount. There are 4 Modules of DBT skills and each module is 6 weeks long, with each module containing 6 group sessions: 1 transition session; 5 skills-teaching sessions. The exception to this rule is for your last module which will be 7 weeks long/7 group sessions: 1 beginning transition session, 5 skills-teaching sessions, and 1 ending transition session where you will say goodbyes to the group. You can commit to attend skills group on a per-module basis, meaning you do not need to commit to the entire 4 modules; however, it is recommended that you discuss it with your therapist or group leader if you wish to discontinue the group prior to graduating. Clients are financially responsible for each group session in each 7-week module they commit to, regardless of attendance (no refunds). For the Adult Groups we will be teaching out of the DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets-Revised Edition by Marsha Linehan, which clients will need to purchase in time for the first group. For the Adolescent Multi-family Groups, group leaders will email you DBT training packets adapted for adolescents, created by Nancy Gordon, LCSW, Clinic Owner and adapted from the Teen Manual by Alec Miller and Jill Rathus. The packets are provided electronically to clients and do not require additional fees.
  3. GETTING STARTED. For clients wishing to join a DBT Skills Group as a group-only client, an intake call must first be completed with our intake coordinator in order to gather clinical information and to asses the client’s appropriateness to join the group (call: (813) 434-0094). After this call, the intake coordinator will email the client (or parent of the adolescent client) a patient portal set-up link which will allow then to have access to the intake forms and clinical assessments that will need to be completed prior to starting services. The link will be emailed from our Electronic Medical Record platform, Valant MYIO. After this, the co-leader of the client’s assigned group will call to schedule a 45-minute Group Orientation session (via Zoom or in-person) to further discuss group expectations, address any questions, and to finalize commitment to the group. The Group Orientation fee is $65.00. Once this session is completed, the start date for your first group will be confirmed.  All forms and intake paperwork must be completed and submitted prior to the group orientation, including the Credit Card Authorization form to ease in billing. In addition to the Group Orientation, the co-leader will also reach out to the client/parent on a once-per-module basis to schedule a 30-min check-in session via Zoom. Each Group-Only check-in is a standard fee of $40.00.
  4. It is advised to have clear behavioral goals to apply the skills to. It is difficult to accomplish goals that are vague or too broad. Rather than having a goal such as “I want to be happier” (which we all do!) or “I want to be calmer”, identify specific behaviors you would engage in if the goal were accomplished and, at the same time, identify behaviors you need to stop engaging in to reach those goals. For example, a goal could be increasing the ability to tolerate feedback from others without shutting down or verbally lashing out. Another goal could be engaging in social activities outside of your home at least 1x/ week. We call these “target behaviors”, and this is how you will refer to them in group. You will learn in orientation the group guidelines about addressing these behaviors in group.
  5. Complete a Behavioral Chain Analysis (BCA on pages 19-23 in your DBT skills book) every time you engage in a behavior you want to decrease or eliminate, or complete a Missing Links Analysis when you fail to engage in a behavior you are trying to practice or increase when it would have been beneficial. Your DBT Skills group leader will reference these analysis skills, and regular use will help you gain clarity around what keeps behaviors you don’t want around or stops more adaptive behaviors from being present when you want them to be!  Generally BCA’s are done with the individual therapist, not in group. Missing Links Analyses might be done in group for tardiness, missed homework, or other group-interfering behaviors.
  6. While we require individuals in Skills Group-Only to have an outside provider, it is not a requirement for your outside provider to be a therapist–it could be your psychiatrist, psychologist, primary care doctor, etc.; however, we have found that individuals who have a DBT therapist tend to grasp the skills and make progress more quickly than those who do not. It is most helpful to have a therapist that you meet with on a regular basis (at least 2x/ month) who you can talk to about your behavioral goals and the skills you learn that can help with these goals.
  7. Attend all of the groups and do all of the homework! There are many valid reasons why doing one or both of those things can be incredibly challenging. If you are having difficulty with either, please be sure to try to problem-solve it on your own as well as get help from your TBC for CBT group leader and your outside provider. The skills can be incredibly effective at making changes, AND, for many of us, they are a completely new way of thinking and acting. It takes dedication and commitment to keep choosing to practice the skills when having strong urges to fall back on habits you are trying to change. Like anything you have learned in your life, it takes practice to learn these new skills — give yourself as much opportunity as you can by attending group and intentionally doing the homework.
  8. Use the diary card! Make sure you get a clear understanding of how to use the diary card from your Individual therapist or group leader and complete it daily. Tracking your behaviors, moods, and skill use will increase your self-awareness and help you make the changes you want. The diary card helps to increase your use of mindfulness skills and can help behavior change to occur.  Other than skills sued, we will not be reviewing the Diary Card in Group. Further review of your Diary Cards should be saved for your private use or with an individual therapist.
  9. Talk about the skills with your support people. Sharing what you’re learning with your friends and family will increase your own understanding of the skills and will also make it possible for them to use the same language/framework with you. There are a variety of online support groups to discuss skills use as well! Go to the Resource page at https://tbcforcbt.com/resources/ or at https://fbpda.org/bpd-resources/ for ideas. We hope this information is helpful and let us know if you have any questions.

We look forward to working with you to learn the DBT Skills! Mindfully, Nancy and all the staff at TBC for CBT