DBT Skills Training Targets and Procedures

Treatment structureTarget hierarchy and proceduresSkills training targeting and procedures

When goals, procedures and typical flow logic of skills training need to be made clear.

Arrange the goals and typical procedures of skills training in such a way that it becomes clear what the training is intended to achieve and how it works methodically.

When does this fit?

When a structured overview of training goals and standard procedures is necessary before going deeper into modules or individual skills.

Priority in the path

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

What this is about

Skills Training Targets and Procedures specifies what skills training is designed to accomplish and how. The primary target is skills acquisition: the client learns skills they did not previously have. Secondary targets are skills strengthening (using skills that have been learned but inconsistently) and skills generalization (applying skills across diverse situations rather than only in training contexts).

Procedures include didactic teaching, practice exercises within sessions, homework assignments for between-session practice, homework review, troubleshooting, and reinforcement of skillful behavior. DBT distinguishes skills training from general psychotherapy: it is explicitly focused on building behavioral capacity, not on processing history or insight.

Further reading Linehan Manual — Ch. 4

Related exercise

Protocol

Skills Training Procedures

Related practice

When the methodological standards of skills training need to be translated into a concrete, directly usable protocol.

Open as exercise

Explore and apply

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

Tool

Chain Analysis

Missing-Links Analysis

Skills Training Target Hierarchy

Foundations and training practice

Targets and procedures describe how skills are acquired, strengthened and used in daily life. Biosocial theory provides background by explaining emotional vulnerability in interaction with the social environment.

Framework