DBT Skills Group

Maybe you've read the books, listened to the podcasts, downloaded the worksheets, and know exactly what you're supposed to do... but everything falls apart when you're overwhelmed, anxious, angry, hurt, or emotionally exhausted.

That's where DBT Skills Group comes in. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills Group is designed to help you build practical skills for navigating life's more difficult moments.

While DBT was originally developed for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), these skills can be life-changing for anyone who struggles with intense emotions, impulsive behaviors, relationship challenges, chronic stress, or feeling overwhelmed by life's curveballs.

The only requirement is that you are also working with an individual therapist.

Not Your Typical Therapy Group

DBT Skills Group is psychoeducational, not traditional group therapy.

Think of it more like a class than a processing group. While members may briefly share experiences to provide context, the focus is on learning, practicing, and applying evidence-based skills, not processing emotions in depth.

Unlike many support groups, DBT Skills Group follows a structured curriculum with decades of research supporting its effectiveness for emotional dysregulation, self-harm, suicidal ideation, and other high-risk behaviors.

What You'll Learn

Emotion Regulation- Learn how to understand, navigate, and influence  your emotions without suppressing them, exploding, or letting them run the show.

Interpersonal Effectiveness- Develop skills for setting boundaries, asking for what you need, navigating conflict, maintaining self-respect, and building healthier relationships.

Distress Tolerance- Discover ways to survive life's most difficult moments without making things worse through impulsive actions, avoidance, self-harm, or other ineffective coping strategies.

Mindfulness- Learn how to stay grounded in the present moment, observe your thoughts without getting swept away by them, and respond more intentionally to life's challenges.

Group Logistics

DBT Skills Groups are closed groups of approximately eight members. This means participants commit to the group rather than attending on a drop-in basis.

Groups meet weekly for 90 minutes and are offered in six-month cycles, though many members choose to continue for 12–18 months to fully integrate the skills into their daily lives.

Fees

Weekly 90-Minute DBT Skills Group: $50/session

Please note that DBT Skills Groups are psychoeducational and are not billed through insurance.

Weekend Intensives

Weekend DBT Skills Intensives are available for individuals, caregivers, and families seeking a more focused and condensed learning experience. Intensives can be especially helpful for those with limited weekly availability or loved ones looking to better understand and support someone participating in DBT.

Interested in Joining?

To inquire about current or upcoming group availability, contact Hannah directly at hannahbarneslcsw@gmail.com. Once availability is confirmed, you'll receive a Group Registration Form and additional information about the enrollment process.

This group is designed for adults who recognize antisocial traits in themselves, such as deceitfulness, impulsivity, aggression, manipulation, chronic conflict, or difficulty experiencing guilt or remorse, and are genuinely interested in changing those patterns.

Not because someone else wants them to.

Because they do.

This is not a shame-based group, a punishment-based group, or a place where you'll be expected to sit around apologizing for your existence. The goal is to better understand how your mind works, how your behavior impacts your life, and what alternatives become available when you're no longer running on autopilot.

DBT + Mentalization-Based Therapy (MBT) Approach

Mentalization is the ability to understand your own and other people's thoughts, feelings, intentions, and motivations. In simple terms, it's the ability to ask: "What else might be going on here?" instead of assuming you already know.

DBT skills help regulate emotions, manage impulses, and create enough space between trigger and reaction to make intentional decisions.

Together, these approaches help people become more accurate, less reactive, and more effective in their relationships and daily lives.

What We'll Explore

We will examine how quickly the brain reads threat, disrespect, rejection, weakness, or manipulation in other people's faces, tone, and behavior, and how often those snap judgments are incomplete, inaccurate, or costly.

We'll explore the difference between what we feel and what we assume, learning how to hold multiple possibilities at once instead of immediately settling on a single explanation.

Using DBT skills, we'll practice slowing the jump from: Trigger → Assumption → Action, so that you can stay in the driver's seat long enough to choose your response rather than defaulting to fight, flight, aggression, avoidance, or emotional shutdown.

We'll also take an honest look at the impact of our behavior on other people, what people actually remember about us, and how to repair damage without sacrificing self-respect or authenticity.

Group Format

This is a structured psychoeducational skills group that combines discussion, skill-building, self-reflection, and community. The focus is on curiosity, accountability, and growth, not judgment.

Group Logistics

Groups meet weekly for 60 minutes and typically include six to eight members. New members may join as openings become available.

Fees

Weekly 90-Minute Skills Group: $50/session

Please note that these are psychoeducational groups and are not billable through insurance.

Requirements

• Participants must be actively working with an individual therapist.
• Participation must be voluntary.
• This group is not intended for court-mandated referrals.

Making Sense of Your Worth is an eight-week psychoeducational group designed to help participants develop healthier self-worth, stronger relationships, and a more compassionate understanding of themselves.

Low self-worth doesn't always look like low confidence. Sometimes it shows up as people-pleasing, perfectionism, burnout, overachievement, emotional shutdown, fear of rejection, difficulty setting boundaries, or the persistent feeling that you're somehow not enough.

The beliefs we carry about ourselves influence nearly every area of life—including how we parent, love, work, lead, cope, and connect with others. Many of these beliefs were formed long before we had the ability to question them.

This group provides an opportunity to explore those patterns with curiosity rather than judgment. Through psychoeducation, guided reflection, creative activities, discussion, and experiential exercises, participants begin identifying old shame narratives and replacing them with greater self-compassion, self-awareness, and authenticity.

What We'll Explore

Over the course of eight weeks, we'll explore:

• Attachment and connection
• Met and unmet emotional needs
• Physical safety versus felt safety
• Adverse childhood experiences
• Messages we've received about ourselves
• Shame and its impact on our lives
• Discovering and reconnecting with our authentic selves
• Replacing old narratives with healthier truths
• Forgiveness, healing, and moving forward

Group Format

This group combines psychoeducation, discussion, guided reflection, mindfulness, creative activities, and experiential exercises. No artistic ability is required, just a willingness to explore, reflect, and grow.

Group Logistics

The group meets weekly for eight consecutive weeks. Each session is two hours long, and enrollment is limited to eight participants to support meaningful connection and engagement.

All program materials are included.

Fees

$50 Registration Fee (includes workbook and materials)

$400 Program Fee

-Pay in full: $360 (10% discount)

-Weekly payments: $50/week for 8 weeks

Please note that this is a psychoeducational group and is not billed through insurance.

This program was created by Cindy R. Lee in partnership with HALO Project International and is used with full attribution.