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Group settings provide clients with an added level of interpersonal support, allowing individuals to create new connections, practice interpersonal skills and develop comfort in a social context. Group leaders provide a powerful environment of compassion and empathy for each individual. This also allows for interactions that challenge participants to let go of self-defeating beliefs and behaviours, replacing negative emotions with more positive ones, and ultimately achieving personal life goals.
Clients considering participation in the DBT skills treatment group are asked to attend several individual sessions prior to joining the group in order to orient them to the treatment and ensure informed consent. The DBT Skills Treatment Group is not for everyone, as participation requires a certain level of commitment. First and foremost, participants must be committed to working on personal goals, and willing to discuss their efforts, successes, and failures in a group setting. Aside from common rules such as confidentiality, participants will be asked to make other commitments designed to create a safe and supportive environment that also promotes the learning and practicing of skillful behaviour.
For those interested in learning the skills taught in group in a different format (i.e. individually or as a family), click here to contact us.
Sessions are held weekly. Each session is 2-hours. Sessions may be cancelled during holidays/vacation time etc., when agreed upon ahead of time. The group is structured into 4 modules: Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness and Distress Tolerance. The completion of Module 4 is followed by returning to Module 1, and runs continuously. The group is an ‘open group’, which means that once a PEACE client is individually oriented and committed, the person may join the group at the beginning of the upcoming module (i.e. they do not need to start at “Module 1”).
Each module takes roughly 4-6 sessions to get through. Facilitators commit to getting through the material in a total of 20 weeks, allowing clients to plan accordingly. Clients are encouraged to participate in the group until they have developed a good grasp of the skills and have integrated them into their lives. Research suggests that attending each module at least twice allows for the best results. This structure also creates a group that includes members that are both new and more experienced with the material.
What skills are we learning in group and why?
In order to solve some of life’s problems, we often have to learn new ways of doing things. Group members are trained in four primary skills areas:
If we knew how to be effective in a situation, we would be. DBT Skills are evidence-based, scientifically validated skills that are increasingly taught to people with everyday problems as well as those whose lives are spiralling out of control.
PEACE understands that clients’ therapy needs are diverse, so we create an individualized treatment plan based on those needs. PEACE requires that clients have an assigned individual therapist with PEACE Psychotherapy, and have, at the very minimum, one individual therapy session per group module. These required sessions are included in the group price.
A client may choose to attend more individual sessions than just one per module. For example, many clients prefer to attend weekly or biweekly individual sessions. As clients become more skillful, they may ween down on the frequency of these sessions.
A client would be required to attend an individual session if the group facilitators deemed a client’s behaviour was disruptive (as per the ‘Disruptive Behaviour Agreement’*) during a group session. This session with their PEACE Therapist would serve for supportive processing, recommitting, and preparing to return and repair with the group.
Here are common therapy options that clients utilize while in group:
DBT believes that it is essential to focus therapeutic interventions on replacing unskillful behaviours with more skillful ones in order to achieve our goals and make the most out of our lives. In order to do this, it is essential to tolerate the negative emotions that drive the problem behaviours, rather than act in an unskillful manner in order to avoid experiencing them. All group members are encouraged to participate to a level with which they are comfortable, and to be willing to stretch their limits in order to create real change in their lives, while also setting limits effectively before acting unskillfully.
When group members exhibit behaviours that are disruptive to the therapeutic process of the group, the therapist and/or group members will respectfully observe and describe these behaviours, and they will have an opportunity to correct the behaviours and practice skills. Your therapist will make every effort to support you to remain in the group, but if the interfering behaviours continue, you will be asked to leave for the remainder of the session. You will be expected to attend a minimum of one individual session to explore solutions in order to return to the group. If you are asked to leave a second time, you may be suspended pending a team meeting. The team meeting may involve further problem solving or a decision to discharge you with referrals.
Clients must be committed to attending all four modules (i.e. 20 group sessions) and at least one individual therapy session per module (i.e. 4 Individual Therapy sessions). After completion of the 4 modules, group members may continue to stay in group, committing to one module at a time. Group participants are required to pay in advance. Clients are not refunded for missed sessions except for exceptional circumstances that must be discussed and agreed upon with the facilitator or individual therapist (i.e. vacation planned in advance, physical illness). *If client is not engaged in regular individual therapy a commitment of one individual therapy session per module is required.
There are 2 payment options:
Option 1: Clients may pay $2300 + applicable taxes ($2449.50 total including 6.5% HST) / 4 modules (20 sessions – 40 hours) to cover 20 group sessions.
Option 2: Clients may pay $575.00 + applicable taxes ($612.38 total including 6.5% HST) / ( installments every 5 weeks (5 sessions – 10 hours)
Price breakdown:
Each group session price $115.00 + applicable taxes ($122.48 total including 6.5%) per session.
one module = 5 group sessions $575.00 + applicable taxes ($612.38 total including 6.5% HST)
four modules = 20 group sessions $2300.00 + applicable taxes ($2449.50 total including 6.5% HST)
The office is close to all three subway lines: Museum Station (5 minute walk), Wellesley Station (9 minute walk) and Bay Station (9 minute walk). Street and lot parking available.