DBT Skills Group FOR ADULTS

Number of sessions: Ongoing Start date: June 24th Frequency: Sessions weekly, Tuesday 5:00-6:30 PM Location: in-person, Amherst Office, 48 N. Pleasant Street, Ste 207, Amherst MA

Facilitators

Maxwell Leon Swenson, LCSW & Kathryn Sheehan, MA

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

Participants

Adults (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 summer program in which participants will learn sets of skills from the four DBT modules to help them manage difficulties in their lives. First we will cover a set of 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. Second, we will learn how to develop a healthy relationship with emotions, some of which can get out of control and be very painful. Third, 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. Finally, we provide concrete skills to help get through life's most distressing moments without doing things that make things worse.

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. This is a group that welcomes and supports people of diverse backgrounds and identities.

Starting in June 2025 we will be going over the entire package of DBT skills: Mindfulness, Emotional Regulation, Interpersonal effectiveness and Distress Tolerance. This skills group will run weekly throughout the summer.

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 expected to practice the skills between group sessions.

• individuals accepted to the group are expected to attend each session and if a session is missed to arrange a make up session with a group leader before the next session.

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