Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

In partnership with Dr. Martin Bohus, Dr. Shelley McMain leads trainings in Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (DBT-PTSD).

TWithin the DBT-PTSD model, dysfunctional behaviors are understood as strategies to avoid or escape from trauma-associated primary emotions like powerlessness, threat, anxiety, disgust, humiliation or sexual arousal. The model posits that these emotions are corroborated by dysfunctional cognitive assumptions and dysfunctional behaviors such as self-injury, suicidal ideation, dissociation or intoxication and that problematic secondary emotions such as shame, guilt, self-hatred or chronic anger develop over time into problematic self-concepts which impair quality of life.

DBT-PTSD primarily aims to help patients: a) Revise their fear of trauma-associated primary emotions, b) Question whether secondary emotions like guilt and shame fit the facts, and c) Radically accept the fact of trauma in their lives in order to establish a life worth living. The treatment program is designed to be delivered in a residential program (three-months) or in an outpatient setting (45 weeks).

The foundational DBT-PTSD course also fulfills the prerequisite for enrolling in future Advanced Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder workshops led by Drs. Bohus and McMain.

Click here to learn more about this year's training and to purchase tickets online.