DBT Skills Training Program Design

Treatment structureProgram designSkills program architecture

If you want to understand how DBT skills training is structured as a whole.

Arrange the overall layout of a skills training program so that the content, sequence and didactic logic can be read as a plannable system.

When does this fit?

When a higher-level view of the planning, composition and sequence of the training program is needed.

Priority in the path

This node is more about preparation, stabilization, or later deepening around orientation and understanding.

What this is about

Skills Training Program Design covers the structural decisions involved in setting up a DBT skills training program: which modules to include, in what order, over what time frame, in what format (individual or group), and with what population. Standard DBT teaches all four modules (Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness) in a group format over approximately one year. Adaptations exist for specific populations, shorter timeframes, or individual delivery.

Key design questions include whether to use open or closed groups, how to select participants, how to sequence modules, and how to balance coverage of breadth versus depth within each module.

Further reading Linehan Manual — Ch. 2

Explore and apply

These nodes lead from the conceptual frame of reference into the first concrete application or deepening.

Framework

Skills Training Target Hierarchy

DBT Skills Training Session Structure

DBT Strategies in Skills Training

If you want to understand the logic according to which skills are taught and maintained in training.

Also in: Distress Tolerance · Emotion Regulation · Interpersonal Effectiveness

Open entry

Foundations and training practice

Programme design organises the modules, sequence and format of training. Orientation and behaviour analysis describes a foundational content area within that structure: understanding the model and examining behaviour.

Framework