DBT Primer
The DBT Primer Program is designed to provide you with an introduction to the DBT model and its four components.
DBT Primer aims to equip participants with a better understanding of the 4 core skills of DBT, and how each skill component can be applied.
The knowledge and skills gained from the Primer will help to prepare you for the formal DBT program (a 12 week skills group), and enable you to get more benefits out of attending the DBT Skills Program.
To learn some more about what DBT is we invite you to view this short video posted on youTube.
Program Outline
The DBT Primer Program runs for one week from Monday to Friday, with two sessions per day from 9.00am to 12.30pm.
DBT Primer is broken down into 5 modules, 4 of which cover the core DBT skills, and the fifth module explores crisis planning. The program schedule is as follows.
Monday: Mindfulness
Tuesday: Distress Tolerance
Wednesday: Emotion Regulation
Thursday: Interpersonal Effectiveness
Friday: Crisis Planning
In each module, content will include educational material on each skill and how it maps onto specific problems and behaviours, in-session practice exercises, and group discussions. Active practice tasks will also be set to be completed between sessions, to give you a chance to practice specific skills acquired in each module. These practice tasks also help to solidify and generalise the skills to your day-to-day situations.
This practice will be reviewed at the next session which will provide an opportunity for you to reflect on how the practice went, and how the skill can be applied to your own situation. It is important to attend both sessions of each module in order to get the most out of the module.
Completion of all five modules of the DBT Primer Program are preferred prior to you commencing the DBT Skills Program. The DBT Primer Program is open to both day patients and inpatients with the DBT Skills Program being only for day patients. It is important to note that DBT Primer does not replace the DBT program – it is designed to complement our DBT Skills Program. Also, you will be linked in with your DBT therapist soon after the commencement of the 12 week program. The therapist will support you through until completion of the DBT Skills Program.
