Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

DBT was originally developed by clinical psychologist, Dr. Marsha Linehan, to help individuals who experience intense emotions and have difficulty regulating their feelings, often resulting in impulsive behaviours and disrupted personal relationships.

While initially developed for individuals who experience Borderline Personality Disorder, DBT is now an evidence-based and effective treatment for many clinical issues, including substance use, eating disorders, impulsive behaviours, anger management, and depression.

Grounded in the roots of cognitive behavioural therapy, DBT provides a skills-based approach that balances acceptance and change. It focuses on the implementation and teaching of specific skills to help individuals support their treatment and recovery. Skills taught fall under 5 domains:
– mindfulness
– distress tolerance
– emotion regulation
– interpersonal effectiveness
– building balance

At TPWG we offer outpatient DBT programming as well as DBT-informed treatment sessions. DBT-informed treatment is a less formalized approach that incorporates elements of DBT within the therapeutic process where needed.

Our DBT programming is more structured and offers the following elements:

1. DBT individual treatment sessions. Therapists meet regularly with individuals to support them in the exploration and processing of their emotions, and in the implementation of more adaptive coping strategies to live a healthy and balanced life.

2. DBT group skills training. A 6-month weekly group skills program offered for three separate age groups: adolescents, young adults, and adults. Trained facilitators teach skills in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and achieving improved life balance.

3. DBT parent and caregiver support. Offered both through individual and/or group formats, our parent and caregiver DBT support provide the skills and strategies necessary to support loved ones struggling with emotional dysregulation and related issues. This programming aims to reduce conflict and increase effective communication and peacefulness within relationships.