DBT for Couples starting April 2, 2023

Programs / Sign up

Dialectical Living would like to be a part of your DBT Journey. Find out what programs we offer and sign up today!

Information and Sign Up

Family DBT Group

In this series families learn important skills and DBT tools toward improving family connections and to help decrease pain and suffering for everyone

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School of DBT

In addition to our live online programs we also have "do at your own pace" courses.

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You are not alone..  DBT Works!  Let us tell you in 3 short minutes what DBT can do for you!

Dialectical Living is offering all of it’s programs ONLINE: groups, workshops, family groups, drop-ins, free DBT groups and one on one therapy ONLINE! 

We are very unique providing a professional DBT program run by professionals with lived experience.  We are Social Workers, Social Service Workers and Peer Support Workers. We are professionals with healthcare backgrounds and degrees belonging to colleges and also peers passionate to help others. Our unique combination offers an unparalleled learning experience. Our clients call it a “breath of fresh air”.  Our facilitators are very relatable using relevant life examples that can’t be learned by textbook alone. 

Our approach is strength based, community and recovery focused.  Our mandate is to provide accessible and accommodating DBT programs that fit different budgets, flexible schedules, have few restrictions, require no diagnosis and are anti-stigma, anti-oppressive and LGBTQ friendly.

If you would like to meet the team please visit our About Us page.

Dialectical Living provides dialectical behaviour therapy or “DBT” to people with emotion regulation challenges in the form of 12 – 24 once per week group sessions. If you would like to learn more about DBT, please visit our DBT page.

In addition to our live core program for those with emotion dysregulation we also have a family DBT Program called Compassion in Chaos as well as our do at your own pace courses in our School of DBT.

Would you be a good fit for DBT?

Dialectical Living does not have requirements in terms of diagnoses and is self referral. Our only criteria is to have have challenges regulating emotions.  If you would like to learn more about emotion regulation, please visit our BPD/ERD/ What is Emotion Dysregulation page. If you’re still unsure about your fit to our group, answer the following questions:

  1. Do you have difficulties maintaining relationships maybe some/all of your relationships are fraught with intense feelings of judgement, fears of abandonment and rejection?
  2. Do you idealize and devalue your close relationships?  This means you love someone one minute and hate them the next.
  3. Do you think in black and white?
  4. Do you have difficulties with substance use, self-harm, disordered eating and/or overspending?
  5. Have you ever felt suicidal? Maybe you think about killing yourself sometimes/often?
  6. Do you have difficulties working or going to school?
  7. Do you experience dissociation?  These are times when you lose time or you feel out of your body.
  8. Do you experience emotional pain more than others in your life?  It may seem like you are super sensitive to the emotional touch.
  9. Do you have intense feelings when small things go wrong?
  10. Do you feel that every day catastrophic things happen in your life?
  11. Do you find that you take things really personally like when your friend cancels a dinner and you feel that they are cancelling because of something you did/said?
  12. Do you wish you were more independent in your life; feeling like you are self sufficient in your day to day activities?
  13. Do you feel negative a lot of the time and/or worry about bad things happening?
  14. Do you have negative feelings about yourself and others?  Maybe you have some self hatred or loathing?
  15. Have you been on a wait-list for psychiatric treatment?
  16. Do you want to learn dialectical behaviour therapy skills?
  17. Are you looking for support from people with lived experience?

If you answered “yes” to any of the above questions, then Dialectical Living would be a good fit for you! Our “Intro to DBT” psychoeducational group will teach you skills to address any of the challenges mentioned above. 


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Dialectical Dispatches (Check out our blog!)

Dialectical Living at Mindfest

Mindfest

DBT Training with Shelley McMain – UofT School of Social Work and CAMH

Shelley McMain and Dialectical Living 6

Driving home the skills!