"I was really surprised to feel more comfortable than I have in any kind of therapy setting I’ve ever been in. I’ve been able to be really open and bring my full self to the skills group and I feel really very grateful for that."Gray
Week 1 (7th September) – Orientation and mindfulness
This is all about understanding the DBT approach, the guidelines for the skills groups and the approach that DBT takes to mindfulness.
Week 2 (21st September) – STOP & TIPP
This week is all about changing your body to change your brain. Simple and effective skills to reduce emotional activation in a crisis.
Week 3 – (5th October) Improve the moment & Self soothing
This includes a mix of cognitive and body based skills to cope with a crisis. Even more ways to cope with crisis situations by using your senses.
Week 4 – (19th October) Distraction
This week is all about how to use healthy distraction to cope with difficult events. We will also talk about when we are over-using distraction and work on ways to identify when it is getting in the way of us having a life worth living.
Week 5 – (2nd November) Radical acceptance
This is all about working out the things in life that need accepting in order to build a life worth living. It is finding ways to accept uncomfortable and even hellish realities as they are. This isn't about approval, just acknowledging what is.
Week 6 – (16th November) Turning the mind
This week is all about reinforcing radical acceptance with turning your mind towards the reality you are accepting and away from denial and avoidance. We will also touch in more detail on the concept of ‘wise mind’, our inner wisdom that we find between logical and emotion minds.
Week 7– (30th November) Willingness & Willfulness
This session is all about recognizing feelings of willfulness and willingness without judgement. It can help us to notice that we are having a willful moment, and to recognise that we have the opportunity to use other skills in that moment if we wish to (and have capacity to), rather than reacting, shutting down or dissociating. We will also talk about mindfulness of current thoughts.