Adolescent and Family DBT
“Providing emotionally dysregulated adolescents skills to build a life worth living”
Several Randomized Control Trials have proven DBT’s effectiveness in decreasing symptoms related to borderline personality disorder and several other studies have shown it to be effective with other populations and diagnoses, including substance dependence, eating disorders and mood disorders.
Research is now suggesting DBT also can be effective in treating adolescents, likely because many adolescents struggle with symptoms including non-suicidal self-injury, suicide attempts, all-or-nothing thinking styles, impulsive behaviors, mood swings and intense and unstable interpersonal relationships. The current research is showing that among adolescents, those struggling with these symptoms, including adolescents who have been diagnosed with a mood disorder, have a previous history of noncompliance in treatment and have significant difficulties regulating their emotions, will benefit most from a DBT program.
Since DBT was published in the early ‘90’s, there have been several adaptations to traditional DBT for use with adolescents. One major adaptation to using DBT with adolescents is the inclusion of a support person or parent(s) in Skills Training Group with them. Although the involvement of the support system is important when using DBT with adults, the involvement of parents and guardians when working with adolescents is even more important. When parents learn the skills their children are learning, parents can model these skills at home and also use the skills to facilitate their own coping and growth. Parental involvement can also be an important aspect of treatment compliance. Optimally, therapists will offer skills training groups for family members, either in conjunction with the adolescent’s skills training, separately or some combination of both. In addition, individual family therapy can be implemented as needed, as can between-session phone coaching for the parents as well as the adolescent. At the very least, support from family members is crucial to DBT’s effectiveness with adolescents.
In addition to adding the support person or parent(s) in the adolescent’s Skills Training Group, an additional skills training module, “Walking the Middle Path” is taught. This module teaches the concept of adolescents and their parents thinking and acting dialectically, as opposed to thinking and behaving in extremes. The module includes common “dialectical dilemmas” — for example, when parents and adolescents vacillate between fostering dependence on the parent or forcing the adolescent to have adult like independent functioning and responsibilities too soon. Another aspect involved in this module is validation — specifically, teaching adolescents and parents how to validate themselves as well as validating others.
This training is primarily designed to help clinicians learn how to adapt the original mode of Skills Training and have it fit for the adolescent and parent population. The following content will be covered:
- Research on DBT-A
- Assumptions about Adolescents and Parents in DBT-A
- Borderline Personality Disorder in Adolescents and the Biosocial Theory
- Dialectics and Dialectical Dilemmas of Adolescents and Parents
- How does DBT Conceptualize Emotionally Dysregulated Adolescents?
- Modes and Functions of DBT-A
- Skills Training for Adolescents and Multi-Families
- The Family Behavioral Chain Analysis
- Targeting Dialectical Dilemmas in Parents
- Suicide in Adolescents
Objectives
As a result of completing this training, participants can expect to:
- List at least three Assumptions about Adolescents and Parents in DBT
- Explain the Biosocial Theory of Borderline Personality Disorder
- Identify at least one dialectical dilemmas for an adolescent and parent
- Identify the Modes and Functions of DBT-A
- Identify the 5 DBT Skills Training Modules taught in DBT Skills Training
- Teach at least two skills per DBT Skills Training Module
- Identify the roles parents have in DBT-A
- Implement a Family Behavioral Chain Analysis
- Identify at least 3 short-term and 3 long-term risk factors in adolescents
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Fee
- Early Bird (30 days before) $475
- Standard $550
- Early Bird (30 days before) $475
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Daily Agenda
- 8:30am – 9:00am – Registration and Coffee
- 9:00am – 12:00pm – Morning Session
- 12:00pm – 1:00pm – Break
- 1:00pm – 4:00pm – Afternoon Session
- 4:00pm – Adjourn
- 8:30am – 9:00am – Registration and Coffee
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Target Audience and Practice Level
This training is specifically targeted to Beginner (new graduates or individuals who have recently changed fields of practice) and Intermediate (individuals with a year or more experience in mental health treatment) level social workers, counselors, psychologists, marriage and family therapists, psychiatrists, case managers and nurses.
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Lodging Options
These hotels are the closest to our headquarters, the intersection has a variety of hotels to choose from:
- Comfort Inn Okemos
- Courtyard Marriott Okemos
- Hampton Inn Okemos
- Holiday Inn Express & Suites Okemos-University Area
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Additional Info
This training has been approved for continuing education credits by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB), 400 South Ridge Parkway, Suite B, Culpeper, VA 22701. www.aswb.org. Social Workers will earn 18 CEUs for the successful completion of this course. No partial credits will be awarded. To earn the allotted CEUs, Social Workers will need to be in full attendance.
For all other professions, please check with your individual board to seek approval for CEUs regarding this event.