DBT Skills Group FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Winter: Part 2 This group will continue in upcoming seasons, having 3 parts: fall, winter, and spring. Attendance of all 3 sections is encouraged but not required.

Number of sessions: 9 Start date: January 30th Frequency: Sessions weekly, Thursdays 5:00-6:30 PM Location: in-person, Hadley Office, 4 Bay Rd, Hadley, MA 01035

Registration Deadline: January 6th

Facilitators

Maxwell Leon Swenson, LCSW & Kathryn Sheehan, MA

Participants may use insurance or pay out of pocket $50 per group session. 

Participants

Young adults (18-35) with a range of diagnoses and who have had difficulties regulating their emotions. This groups has not been adapted for psychotic patients. The following disorders are encouraged to apply: mood disorders, anxiety disorders, substance use disorders, eating disorders and personality disorders. This is not intended to be a source of primary therapy for an individual, so anyone participating must have a primary therapist.

Description

This DBT skills group is a three-part program in which participants will learn sets of skills to help them manage difficulties in their lives. First we teach how to develop a healthy relationship with emotions, some of which can get out of control and be very painful. Second we cover ways to get what you want and need in relationships, how to say no to unwanted requests, how to build and maintain relationships, and how to find balance when there is conflict. Third, we provide concrete skills to help get through life's most distressing moments without doing things that make things worse. Throughout the program, we will learn mindfulness skills to expand our awareness of what is going on in and around us, to generate compassion for ourselves and other people and to come back to our wisest self when we need it. This is a group that welcomes and supports people of diverse backgrounds and identities.

This group operates more like a class in which we learn and practice skills than a therapy group where people explore relationships with each other.

The entire package of skills will be presented over 9 months from September 2024 to June 2025.

Starting in Jan/Feb 2025 we will be going over the Distress Tolerance module

Expectations for participants are the following:

-Must be in individual therapy with a therapist that supports participation in the group (it is not required that the therapist be trained in DBT).

-Individuals are encouraged to stay for the full 9 month program.

-Individuals are expected to practice the skills between group sessions.

-Individuals accepted to the group will have a introduction to DBT to get up to speed with the rest of the existing group.

Insurances accepted

Aetna BlueCross and BlueShield Commonwealth Care Alliance
Cigna: Wellfleet Medicare
Optum: Allways, VACCN, UnitedHealthcare, Health Plans Inc, Oxford, UMR, Mass General Brigham Point32: Tufts Public, Tufts Health Plans, Harvard Pilgrim Tufts Commercial
Tufts Public Out-of-Pocket/Self-Paid