DBT Skills for Psychosis
Effective, person-centered treatment using dialectical behavior therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a powerful, evidence-based modality designed to help those struggling with severe emotional dysregulation.
And yet it isn’t commonly thought of as a therapeutic intervention for psychosis, an experience that can greatly disrupt a person’s ability to engage in emotional regulation.
In fact, as research in this area has evolved, it’s become clear that emotional dysregulation interacts with psychosis in important ways.
When overwhelmed by emotions like shame, fear, or sadness, clients with psychotic spectrum disorders often also experience an increase in psychotic experiences, such as critical voices or suspicious thoughts.
This can in turn feed their distress and lead them to self-isolate, disengage, and even self-harm.
Without strategies for addressing intense and highly distressing emotions, this can create a devastating cycle.
That cycle can be very hard to escape, and can keep people from building lives that are truly worth living, such as through activities that are in line with their values or maintaining strong social connections.
For a long time, the mental health system has exclusively relied on institutionalization and psychiatric medications as the primary interventions for psychosis.
This has, in effect, barred this population from evidence-based interventions that we now know can increase their quality of life, even, or perhaps especially, when medication is not a good fit for certain individuals.
This important training led by Maggie Mullen, LCSW, DBT-LBC, will challenge the medical model of psychosis utilizing a disability justice framework and will offer DBT interventions you can use to help those struggling with acute and chronic psychosis.
Using DBT skills and principles, you’ll be able to make your work with this population more skills-based, culturally responsive, and person-centered, allowing you to address the issue of emotional dysregulation that so often contributes to clients’ struggles.
Join us to enhance your therapeutic toolkit and bridge the gap in treatment for clients with psychotic spectrum disorders.
What You’ll Learn
This live online course taught by an author and expert in the space of psychosis will equip you with dialectical behavior therapy skills specifically tailored for psychotic experiences.
Inside, you’ll explore the four core modules of DBT: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
The focus will be on skills-building interventions that can be integrated with a variety of evidence-based approaches, rather than strictly adhering to traditional DBT protocols.
You’ll learn through interactive activities, such as engaging discussions, case examples, roleplay, and practical tools. You’ll also be encouraged to bring in your own cases to explore and practice with.
By adding these DBT skills to your toolkit you’ll be able to:
- Engage clients with psychotic spectrum disorders more effectively using accessible interventions adapted to their needs
- Work more confidently to help clients build lives worth living — while promoting their safety in therapy and the community
- Apply concrete and practical tools you can try out with clients and get immediate feedback on their efficacy
- Build clients’ skills in mindfulness so they can notice when they’re activated and take appropriate action
- Help clients “surf” intense experiences so they can see things clearly and choose responses that align with how they want to live their lives
All of this will make your work more hopeful and responsive to clients’ individual needs while giving them skills to navigate psychosis and build meaningful lives.
This training offers 10 CE hours if attended live. We can only provide CE to those who are present via Zoom for the live sessions. However, the sessions will be recorded and available to watch later. Registrants may access these recordings at any time for up to nine months after the live training ends.
Before registering, please review conflict of interest disclosures and complete CE information here.
Session 1 | September 30, 2024, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. EDT
- What we know about psychosis and emotion regulation & how DBT can help
- Utilizing disability justice to offer DBT for people experiencing Psychotic Spectrum Disorders.
- Validation & Curious Inquiry
- Mindfulness: Nonjudgmental stance
Session 2 | October 7, 2024, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. EDT
- Distress tolerance to cope with emotions & psychotic experiences: TIP, Distraction, Self-Soothing
Session 3 | October 21, 2024, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. EDT
- Distress tolerance to cope with problematic drug use: Pros & Cons, Urge Surfing, Alternate Rebellion, Community Reinforcement
Session 4 | October 28, 2024, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. EDT
- Emotion Regulation
- Building a Life Worth Living
Session 5 | November 4, 2024, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m. EST
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: DEARMAN, Making Friends
- Behavior Chain Analysis
Participants will be able to:
- Explain the foundational theory of DBT, an evidence-based psychological treatment for emotion regulation problems
- Discuss the prevalence of emotion dysregulation and trauma amongst people with Psychotic Spectrum Disorders (PSD)
- Explore and practice mindfulness tailored to individuals with PSD to enhance awareness and acceptance
- Identify two distress tolerance strategies to manage acute episodes of distress and psychosis-related anxiety to teach clients
- Discuss how to identify and modify intense emotions that contribute to psychotic experiences
- Discuss why interpersonal effectiveness skills are important to improve communication and relationship-building
- Discuss and employ person-centered, non-pathologizing language to describe psychotic experiences
- Utilize DBT’s style of radical genuineness, validation, and irreverence to build stronger relationships with clients
- Identify and develop strategies to overcome common obstacles in applying DBT skills with clients experiencing Psychotic Spectrum Disorders, such as suspicious thoughts, PTSD, social anxiety, and mistrust of the mental health system
Please review complete CE and conflict-of-interest disclosure information prior to registering. This live online course is sponsored by Praxis Continuing Education and Training and is approved for 10 CE Hours by the following listed below. There was no commercial support for this activity. None of the planners or presenters for this educational activity have relevant financial relationship(s) to disclose with ineligible companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients.
Praxis CET maintains responsibility for the program with the CE approvals outlined below:
Joint Accreditation: In support of improving patient care, Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
IPCE: This activity was planned by and for the healthcare team, and learners will receive 10 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credit for learning and change.
Nursing: Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc designates this activity for a maximum of 10 ANCC contact hours.
Physicians: Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc designates this live activity for a maximum of 10 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Psychologists: Continuing Education (CE) credits for psychologists are provided through the co-sponsorship of the American Psychological Association (APA) Office of Continuing Education in Psychology (CEP). The APA CEP Office maintains responsibly for the content of the programs.
Social Workers: As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc. is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. Social workers completing this course receive 10 clinical continuing education credits.
NY Social Workers: Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0467
NY Counselors: Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0198.
NY Psychologists: Praxis Continuing Education and Training, Inc. is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0002.
NOTE: Many state boards accept offerings accredited by national or other state organizations. If your state is not listed, please check with your professional licensing board to determine whether the accreditations listed are accepted.
Mullen, M. (2021). The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Psychosis. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
Kimhy, D., et al. “The Impact of Emotion Awareness and Regulation on Psychotic Symptoms During Daily Functioning.” Npj Schizophrenia 6, no. 7 (Mar 2020).
Lincoln, T.M., et al. “Do People with Psychosis Have Specific Difficulties Regulating Emotions?” Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy 22, no. 6 (November 2015): 637–646.
Lawlor, C., et al. (2022). “Managing emotions in psychosis: Evaluation of a brief DBT-informed skills group for individuals with psychosis in routine community services,” British Journal of Clinical Psychology. 10.1111/bjc.12359.
Lawlor, C., et al. (2020). “Self-reported emotion regulation difficulties in people with psychosis compared with non-clinical controls: A systematic literature review.” Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 27(2), 107–135.
We understand, sometimes things come up!
Praxis will offer a full refund to registrants of both live and live-online trainings who cancel their registration up to 14 days before the course or workshop start date, minus an administrative processing fee of $30 for a 2-day workshop or online course, and a $50 fee for a 4-day workshop. If cancelled within 14 days, no refund will be issued, however, a credit for the same amount will be applied toward another learning product, which expires within 1 year. Please email us at online@praxiscet.com to cancel a registration.
Mondays, 4:00 p.m.–6:00 p.m.
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September 30, 2024 - November 4, 2024
4:00 pm - 6:00 pm
