Workshop Description

This continuing education course provides comprehensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), examining current innovations and evidence-based applications for emotion dysregulation across diverse populations and settings. Participants will explore DBT's evolution from treatment for borderline personality disorder and suicidality to broader applications including PTSD, depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and substance use disorders. The course emphasizes the dialectical balance between acceptance and change strategies, integrating mindfulness practices with behavioral skill-building across four core modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Participants will examine recent neurobiological research demonstrating DBT's effects on reducing amygdala and anterior cingulate cortex activity while enhancing prefrontal connectivity to improve emotional regulation. The curriculum covers adaptations of standard DBT components, including standalone group skills training, abbreviated protocols, and technology-enhanced delivery using mobile applications for real-time support and skill coaching. Special attention is given to DBT's demonstrated effectiveness in justice settings, where it reduces recidivism by up to 40% compared to standard CBT. Social workers will learn to implement DBT principles in individual therapy, group settings, and community-based programs while understanding consultation team functions and treatment fidelity considerations.

NOTE: This program is part of a two-session mini-series on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
 
Each session is a stand-alone offering — participants may register individually or attend both for a total of 6.0 Continuing Education Credits (CEs).
 
The presenter has requested that all participants keep their camera and audio on (and working) throughout the session to support a highly interactive learning experience.

Learning Objectives

After completing this webinar, participants will be able to:

• Apply the four DBT skill modules—mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness—to address emotion dysregulation in clients presenting with diverse diagnoses including depression, anxiety, PTSD, and personality disorders. 
• Analyze the dialectical tensions between acceptance and change in client presentations, implementing validation strategies alongside behavioral change interventions to resolve therapeutic impasses. 
• Evaluate neurobiological mechanisms underlying emotion dysregulation and assess how DBT interventions target amygdala reactivity and prefrontal-limbic connectivity to enhance emotional regulation capacity. 
• Implement adapted DBT delivery models appropriate for various social work settings, including standalone skills groups, abbreviated protocols, and technology-enhanced interventions using mobile applications for between-session coaching. 
• Design DBT-informed treatment plans that integrate skills training with individual therapy principles, incorporating chain analysis of problem behaviors and solution analysis to build adaptive behavioral repertoires.

Continuing Education Credits: 3.0

This workshop is approved for licensed social workers, licensed mental health counselors, licensed marriage and family therapists, and licensed psychologists.

Fees

• NASW-NY Member - $45.00
• Other Chapter Members (e.g., NASW-NJ, etc.) - $75.00
• Non-Member - $90.00
• NASW-NY Student and Transitional Member (Non-CE Eligible) - $0.00

Presenter: Reji Matthew, PhD, LCSW, REAT

The expressive arts are central to my worldview, work, life, and social activism. I am an award-winning intermodal artist, thinker, educator, and neuroscience-informed psychotherapist. Integrating different art forms is intrinsic to my creative process and therapeutic approach. My philosophy for therapeutic expressive arts is grounded in several core principles that inform my approach to healing, teaching, and training. 

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