DBT SKILLS GROUP

Facilitated by Audra Holinka

NEXT GROUP: Mindfulness Skills 8/19 - 9/30 | 5:45 - 7:30

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Do you tend to feel emotions more intensely than others or are your emotions getting in the way of your relationships, self-esteem, or your quality of life?

If so, then a DBT skills group may be right for you.

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What Does DBT Skills Group Do?

DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) Skills Groups teach participants the skills of Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance, and Interpersonal Effectiveness, each in 6 week, 105 minute sessions.  The groups are structured more like a class rather than a process group or support group.  Each class begins with a Mindfulness exercise intended to calm the mind and body and to allow participants to settle into the present moment.  After our mindfulness exercise group members discuss how effective or difficult it was for them to apply the DBT skill from the previous week's class to their relationships and daily lives.  Clients can participate as much or as little as they want with more enhanced learning coming from more active participation.  Following this part of the class, a new skill is taught and questions are answered. 

In these groups/classes participants will learn to become more aware of their thoughts and emotions and how they are impacting their relationships and behavior choices.  Additionally, we work on letting go of judgment of oneself and others while learning how to accept and cope with life's challenges rather than resisting or avoiding them.  When we learn how to balance our emotions and reactions to them, tolerate or cope with difficult and distressing situations, and become more effective in our interpersonal skills we tend to feel calmer, more confident, and have richer relationships and life experiences.  Class modules run consecutively, often with a one week break in between. Participants may start the program with any module and are not required to take all the modules, yet it is highly recommended.  

Amy Burnside and Audra Holinka teach DBT Skills Groups in Tempe Arizona

Who Can Benefit From These Classes?

Anyone who struggles with the following:

  • Identifying/Labeling emotions

  • Regulating their emotions

  • Accepting difficult realities

  • Not having a clear sense of self

  • Has difficulty forming and keeping relationships

  • Engages in impulsive behaviors

  • Engages in suicidal thoughts/self-harming behavior

  • Has tendencies to avoid others and situations

  • Engages in unhelpful or ineffective behaviors

  • Engages in ineffective problem-solving

More Information:

CLICK HERE to listen to Lady Gaga talk about how DBT helped her manage her mental health during in an interview with Oprah Winfrey

CLICK HERE To watch this 12 minute interview about DBT on MSNBC

TYPES OF CLASSES

Mindfulness Class Objectives

  • Includes mindful meditation at the start of every class.

  • Learn how to be in and stay in the present moment. Stop ruminating about the past or fortune telling about the future.

  • Learn to increase awareness of your mind, body, and surroundings by utilizing OBSERVE & DESCRIBE skills.

  • Learn how to find your WISE MIND and keep EMOTION mind and REASONABLE mind in balance.

  • Learn to turn willful behavior into willing behavior.

  • Learn how to be intentional with your attention and to strengthen the ATTENTION muscle to increase focus.

  • Learn how to self-validate and to validate others.

  • Learn about dialectics - letting go of black and white or all or nothing thinking. Find the "middle path" with your thoughts and feelings. .

  • Includes workbook, review of skills from previous week through group discussion, & new skill development.

  • Enjoy the benefits of being in a small group environment.

Emotion Regulation Class Objectives

  • Includes mindful meditation at the start of every class.

  • Begin to learn mindfulness skills or strengthen your current mindfulness practice

  • Learn to experience emotions without judging or blocking them

  • Learn to identify obstacles to changing emotions

  • Learn to become less emotionally reactive

  • Learn how to experience more positive emotions

  • Learn how to take action even when your emotions are fighting you

  • Learn how to tolerate negative emotions

  • Includes workbook, review of skills from previous week through group discussion, & new skill development.

Interpersonal Effectiveness Class Objectives

  • Includes mindful meditation at the start of every class.

  • Learn how to be more skillful in asking others for help

  • Learn how to say “no” when needed

  • Learn how to get your opinions taken more seriously

  • Learn how to strengthen your current relationships & how to build new ones

  • Learn how to increase your self-respect & find more balance in your relationships

  • Includes workbook, review of skills from previous week through group discussion, & new skill development.

Distress Tolerance & Coping Skills Class Objective

  • Includes mindful meditation at the start of every class.

  • Learn skills to help cope with immediate crisis situations/stressors without making things worse

  • Learn how to stop acting in Emotion Mind

  • Learn how to accept reality when you are unable to change it and it is not what you want it to be

  • Learn ways to manage intense emotions

  • Includes workbook, review of skills from previous week through group discussion, & new skill development.

$330 for 6 weeks, plus $15 supply fee

Each class or group is 6 weeks long and is capped at 10 participants. Each is enrolled separately.

TESTIMONIALS

  • "I feel like a different person since I began the first class. These classes helped me to have more peace in my life and has changed my life for the better."

  • "The classes have increased my awareness and taught me skills to handle difficult emotions and to choose responses that are more in line with the person I want to be."

  • "The classes have helped me to have more positive relationships with my family and friends."

  • "Amy is friendly, personable, funny. She has confidence and knowledge and cares about the people in her classes. She is willing to share her own personal journey and how the skills help her in real life situations."

  • "The Mindfulness theme that runs throughout all of the classes has made me more aware of how much time I spend stuck in my thoughts as opposed to really living in the present."

  • "Amy is a fantastic facilitator. Her style of teaching, kindness, and ability to keep the group on task is invaluable."

  • "The classes teach key life skills that we all need."

  • "The classes allow us to go over real life issues and to support one another and to get support from other classmates."

Be Balanced Counseling LLC Therapy office for individuals with anxiety located in Tempe Arizona

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If you are seeking a therapist who combines compassion and attunement with evidence-based expertise, and who has done their own therapy, then let’s talk. Together, we will explore the roots of your symptoms and work towards your long term well-being.