Emotional Coping Skills Training for Adolescents (DBT-A)

Enhancing emotional regulation and social interaction for young people and their carers.

A two day online small-group workshop with recordings available for three weeks after the event.

Marie Wassberg and Fiona Kennedy introduce DBT-A

Emotional Coping Skills can be delivered in group, individually, with parents or carers and in residential settings.

Many young people struggle with impulsivity, feelings of emptiness, unstable relationships, affective instability regulating emotions.

DBT-A Skills Training is useful with any adolescent who has difficulty regulating emotions.

Based on the work of Alec Miller and Jill Rathus. It is underpinned by an evidence base of studies with adolescents who are suicidal and /or self harming; have an eating disorder, oppositional defiant disorder, emerging EUPD, andbipolar disorder. DBT-A has also been explored with adolescents with ASD, ADHD and/or learning disability (Shingler, 2004).

DBT-A is a strength-based approach directly targeting emotional dysregulation, lack of relationship skills and poor self-esteem.

Young people learn about themselves, their bodies, emotions, thoughts and consequences. Families and carers or staff learn the same skills and how to help the young person generalise and practise their new knowledge.

Mindfulness practice and experiential learning produce a complete, whole-person intervention to increase emotional regulation and competency. This model also addresses language-based deficits and helps young people generalise and maintain new skills.

DBT-A can be used in group, family and individual formats and will be compatible with your other therapy approaches. You do not need to be a DBT Practitioner to use DBT-A.

Who will benefit from this course?

Anyone working with adolescents or their parents/carers who want to increase the effectiveness of how teenagers handle emotions, relationships and crises. The level is appropriate for people already running emotion regulation groups as well as complete beginners. You should have a background in therapy or mental health work.

Day 1

We look at the bio-social model, the adolescent brain, and an introduction to DBT. We explain why working with parents is so important. We start looking at the Skills Teaching content, focusing on “Walking the Middle Path” (the art and science of sincere compromise) and how to apply Mindfulness in our daily life.

Day 2

We explore Emotion Regulation ( how to down-regulate intense emotions), Distress Tolerance (how to survive a crisis) and Interpersonal Effectiveness (how to relate to others).

Learning methods

We will use instruction, demos, role-plays in breakout rooms, and video material to create a workshop with a small group of highly engaged participants, and we will make it fun!

What You Will Learn

• How DBT-A skills can help adolescents who have difficulties regulating their emotions.
• How to teach DBT-A skills when working with young people who have difficulties with emotional regulation and social interactions.
• How to teach DBT-A skills to teens and their caregivers in groups or individually
• How to use DBT-A skills in a variety of settings, combining then with your own practice

Take Aways

• DBT-A Skills Group Teaching Slides for you to use in your own work with adolescents
• Networking with other therapists applying DBT-A Skills

The Trainers

Marie Wassberg is a Social Worker, and an Accredited Cognitive Behaviour Therapist with BABCP (British Association for Behavioural & Cognitive Psychotherapies). Marie has a Diploma in Dialectic Behaviour Therapy (DBT), training with Dr. Elizabeth Malmquist and Dr. Anita Linnér in Sweden, and with Professor Alan Fruzzetti and Professor Jill Rathus in the USA. She also trained in Prolonged Exposure (PE) with Prof. Edna Foa (USA); and DBT for Schools (STEPS-A) with Dr.Elizabeth Dexter-Mazza and Dr. James Mazza (USA).

Marie has worked therapeutically for many years with children and adolescents who have been sexually abused, have complex PTSD/trauma and/or who have displayed harmful sexual behaviours. She works with young people who self-harm, have suicidal thoughts, depression, and psychosis. She also works with children and adolescents presenting challenging behaviours, those with ASD, and ADHD. As a Social Worker, her work has involved child protection, child-in-need, unaccompanied minors and asylum seekers.

Marie has been a guest lecturer at universities in Sweden, a facilitator at workshops, conferences and training events throughout the UK, in Sweden, the USA,  Romania, Mexico and Poland. She facilitates the Full DBT Practitioner Training for GreenWood Mentors Ltd.

Fiona Kennedy is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Director of GreenWood Mentors. She is an accredited therapist, supervisor and trainer and fellow of the BABCP. Dr Kennedy has received awards from BUPA and recommendation from the National Audit Office for her DBT training and service provision. She has been delivering training since 2004 and her training is accepted by the Society for DBT. She makes complex concepts accessible and enjoys having fun whilst training on serious topics. She has many years experience as an NHS clinician and manager, as well as in private practice. She has written books and published papers on the sequelae of trauma in childhood and other topics. The latest “Integrating CBT and Third Wave Therapies”, is  part of the CBT Distinctive Features series from Routledge.