An out-patient DBT program at Tampa Bay DBT includes weekly individual therapy sessions and weekly skills training classes. In individual therapy, the focus is on developing an understanding of problematic behaviors, emotional suffering, and interpersonal chaos. Additionally, we pin point what prevents individuals from being able to change and what contributes to their emotional suffering. Individuals learn new ways to cope with intense emotional experiences and alternatives to solving life’s problems. During the first four sessions, individuals and their therapist agree on goals and orienting to all the aspects of treatment. DBT is separated into stages.
Stage One: Decreasing and eliminating life-threatening behaviors including suicide attempts, suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors, therapy-interfering behaviors and any behaviors that interfere with the quality of life such as eating disorders, substance abuse, joblessness, living situations, and relationship difficulties.
Stage Two: Addressing symptoms and difficulties related to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder)
Stage Three: Resolving ordinary problems that arise in life, increasing the sense of self, and reaching personal goals and Maintaining a sense of joy.
The skills training group meets weekly for 2 hours. In the group, individuals are taught four sets of skills including mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance. It takes 6 months to complete all four skills sets, and it is recommended that the group is repeated for a total of one year of group attendance. Every individual is not able to attend the group for various reasons. This issue will be address on an individual basis. It is important to note that the evidence-based treatment includes group participation for a minimum of one year.