DBT Skillz for Therapists. Register HERE.

With Marsha Linehan’s Second Edition of the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training Manual in 2014, the application of DBT Skills to multiple conditions and diagnoses continues to expand. These new skills and handouts not only address some of the most confounding problems clients face--such as, chronic suicidal ideation, self-harming behavior, conflicted relationships, intense emotional swings-- but also have been empirically applied to a range of populations, such as clients dealing with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, addictions, eating disorders, as well as with couples and families. Since 2016, we have offered this consecutive series of 8 week courses which begin with several weeks of the Core Mindfulness Skills followed by either Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness or Distress Tolerance Skills.

Purpose: In this online course you will learn tools to remain effective and mindful in those stressful, challenging situations that prompt intense emotions, problematic urges, and recurring emotionally vulnerable states. Understanding the skills experientially is the foundation for being an effective DBT therapist, as well as beneficial to those who do not wish to specialize in DBT.

You will practice these skills from the ground up in a safe and collegial environment. If you plan to teach skills classes, this course provides an alternative to the participant-observer option. We will learn together, support, laugh and share as we discover the dialectic of both acceptance and change.

Format: Each 8 session course currently meets ONLINE twice monthly on Wednesday Mornings, 9 - 10:45am. Every session begins with a mindfulness exercise, followed by each participant's report on practicing the previous week's skills with brief feedback/coaching by the group leader(s). We will study and practice the skills with an emphasis on specific, understandable, and emotional connections to our lives. The two week interlude between sessions allows for ample time to “practice, practice, practice” these skills yourself, as well as with your clients.

Cost: The fee for participating in the DBT Skills for Therapists 8 week course is $480 for early payment. Otherwise, the fee is $600. This class is suitable for many continuing education requirements; it is Level B for psychologists. There are further reduced fee slots for students, trainees and providers with financial need. We want to reinforce effective practice of the "DEAR" skills!

Contact: For more information or to register, please contact John Mader, LMFT at jmaderlmft@gmail.com.

2025 - JANUARY to APRIL

In January, Johnna Pilipchuk and John Mader will be offering the Emotion Regulation (with Core Mindfulness) Skillz for Therapists.  Meggan Moorhead, founder of Triangle Area DBT (TADBiT) created this unique format of a DBT skills group designed for therapists to deepen their practice of these skills. In 2016, Meggan asked John and Jeanette Sarbo to continue to offer this resource of "learning by doing." In this 2025 online edition of DBT Skillz for Therapists, John and Johnna will offer the next round of “skillz.”

EMOTION REGULATION.

Learning Objectives for Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation Module:

  • Understand and practice the skills of Mindfulness

  • Understand the concepts of Emotion Regulation and the the four goals of the Emotion Regulation skills module in personally meaningful ways.

  • Experientially apply the Emotion Process Model, Check the Facts, Opposite Action, and Accumulate Positive Emotions

  • Identify creative ways to teach these skills with clients with the Four Steps of: Link to goal, Shaping step, Essence, Make it SticKy

Purpose: In this course, you will learn mindfulness-based Emotion Regulation Skills, which are the core of DBT and the heart of its contribution to psychotherapy. You will learn skills designed to increase resilience and to decrease emotional suffering.

Understanding the skills experientially is foundational for being an effective DBT therapist. You will practice these skills from the ground up in a safe and collegial environment. If you plan to teach skills classes, this course provides an alternative to the participant-observer option.

Schedule of Skillz. Wednesdays 9-1045am

1/8/2025 & 1/22/2025

2/5/2025 & 2/19/2025

3/5/2025 & 3/19/2025

4/2/2025 & 4/16/2025

We will learn together, give support, laugh and share as we deepen our practice of the main dialectic: acceptance and change.

Register HERE.

Instructors: John Mader, LMFT and Johnna Pilipchuk, LPA, GC-C

John Mader has a private practice in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT), AAMFT Approved Supervisor, and Certified DBT Clinician. He has completed DBT Intensive training and is on the Leadership Team of Triangle Area Dialectical Therapy (founded by Meggan Moorhead and Norma Safransky). He has taught DBT Skills Training Groups (beg 1997), DBT Family Skills Training (beg 2004), DBT Skills for Couples (beg 2008) and leads a DBT Consultation Team. His website, dbtfamilyskills.com, provides resources on using DBT skills in relationship.

Johnna Pilipchuk, LPA, GC-C, completed DBT Intensive Training and has 30  years experience in practicing as an individual DBT therapist, a DBT skills instructor, and a DBT consultation team participant and leader. Johnna was part of a team that provided model-adherent DBT to adolescents and their parents for 25 years. She also has been a guest facilitator for family and couples skills with John Mader. Johnna's current work as a certified grief counselor and end-of-life doula includes classes that focus on using DBT skills to navigate the various tasks of grieving.  

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EARLY 2025

INTERPERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS.

DBT Skillz for Therapists:

Interpersonal Effectiveness & Mindfulness Skills

Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skillz for Therapists in the Triangle. With the exciting and much anticipated release of Marsha Linehan’s Second Edition of the DBT Skills Training Manual in 2014, the application of DBT Skills to multiple conditions and diagnoses continues to expand. These new skills and handouts not only address some of the most confounding problems clients face--such as, chronic suicidal ideation, self-harming behavior, conflicted relationships, intense emotional swings-- but also have been empirically applied to a range of populations, such as clients dealing with anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, addictions, and eating disorders.

Where/When: The 8 session course meets every 2 weeks on Wednesday Mornings, 8:45-10:30am. 

Learning Objectives for the Interpersonal Effectiveness Module:

  • Understand and practice the skills of Mindfulness

  • Understand the concepts of Interpersonal Effectiveness and the the three goals of the Interpersonal Effectiveness skills module in personally meaningful ways. These goals are to be more skillful in getting what we want and need, to build relationships and end destructive ones, to walk the middle path of greater balance in relationships.

  • Experientially apply the priorities of Interpersonal Effectiveness, DEAR MAN, GIVE and FAST, Troubleshooting and Mindfulness of Relationship, including the effective method of Validation.

  • Identify creative ways to teach these skills with clients with the Four Steps of: Link to goal, Shaping step, Essence, Make it SticKy

Purpose: In this course you will learn mindfulness-based Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills, which are key to understanding what works in relationships and making repairs to maintain connection with our families, friends, and co-workers. You will learn skills designed to increase resilience and to decrease emotional suffering coming from relationship conflict. Understanding the skills experientially is the foundation for being an effective DBT therapist. You will practice these skills from the ground up in a safe and collegial environment. If you plan to teach skills classes, this course provides an alternative to the participant-observer option.

We will learn together, support, laugh and share as we discover the dialectic of both acceptance and change.

FALL 2025

Distress Tolerance and Mindfulness.

Learning Objectives for the Distress Tolerance Module:

●      Understand and practice the skills of Mindfulness to help us cope with distress and to survive crises.

●      Understand the concepts and skills of Distress Tolerance in personally meaningful ways.

●      Experientially apply the skills to survive stressors and crises without making them worse, to accept reality so we might replace suffering with ordinary pain, to increasingly move toward our “Life Worth Living” goals with greater freedom from the demands of our own urges and intense emotions.

●      Identify creative ways to teach these skills with clients with the Four Steps of: Link to goal, Shaping step, Essence, Make it SticKy

Purpose: In this course you will learn mindfulness-based Crisis Survival Skills and Reality Acceptance strategies which support us in coping with life situations that may not be “solvable” at this time. You will learn skills designed to provide alternatives to reactive behaviors that can make things worse. Linehan describes the skills of Radical Acceptance as the ones she would use everyday. Understanding the skills experientially is the foundation for being an effective DBT therapist. You will practice these skills from the ground up in a safe and collegial environment. If you plan to teach skills classes, this course provides an alternative to the participant-observer option.

 

The 12 Hour Intro to DBT Fundamentals - TBA

Click for more information. To register, please contact John Mader, LMFT at jmaderlmft@gmail.com.

Instructors: John Mader, LMFT and Colleagues

John Mader has a private practice in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC as a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT), AAMFT Approved Supervisor, and Certified DBT Clinician. He has completed DBT Intensive training and is on the Leadership Team of Triangle Area Dialectical Therapy (founded by Meggan Moorhead and Norma Safransky). He has taught DBT Skills Training Groups (beg 1997), DBT Family Skills Training (beg 2004), DBT Skills for Couples (beg 2008), leads a DBT Consultation Team and a DBT Couple Therapy Team. His website, dbtfamilyskills.com, provides resources on using DBT skills in relationship.