Please send me any thoughts about treating/supporting individuals with learning and behavioral health challenges to share with our colleagues. If you have a comments/questions/program or project descriptions/creative client projects/inventive group exercises related to the Skills System or other innovative interventions, send them along (with a picture) for us to post. A special invitation to international practitioners! Together we can help address the complex micro and macro challenges that impact the supports/treatment of this population.
NEW Swedish DBT-Skills System Publication (Swedish version only)
Alexandra Rosendahl Santillo
Leg psykolog Leg psykoterapeut
Specialist psykologisk behandling / psykoterapi
Handledare och lärare KBT
In our work with DBT, we had many patients who did not manage the standard DBT-treatment, we really needed a method that suited our patients with cognitive difficulties and self-harming behaviors. Then we […]
NEW MEASURE: Emotion Regulation Knowledge Scale (ERKS)
Journal: Journal of Projective Psychology and Mental Health (2022) Vol. 29: 87-96
Title: Development and Initial Examination of a Measure of Emotion Regulation Knowledge
Authors: Adam P. Natoli and Julie F. Brown
Abstract:
Many effective therapies targeting dysregulation employ psychoeducational and skills training interventions, both of which presumably increase […]
The E-Learning is Available in Spanish!
The Spanish language option is now available on the E-Learning dashboard.
Once the person chooses Spanish, they can:
- Watch Spanish subtitled videos.
- Complete exercises in Spanish.
- Download the skills map, skills cards, and skills posters that are in Spanish.
Many thanks to the DBT team in Argentina […]
1-Hour Seminar by Julie Brown, PhD, for the Centre for Autism, Neurodevelopmental Disorders, and Intellectual Disabilities (CANDDID – United Kingdom, March 18, 2022)
Making Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Accessible for Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities
DBT-skills system for cognitively challenged individuals with self-harm: a Swedish pilot study
Alexandra Rosendahl-Santillo, Reid Lantto, Lena Nylander, Christina Thylander, Pernilla Schultz, Julie Brown, Marta Wallinius and Sofie Westling
Background: Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment for self-harm and emotion regulation difficulties. A modified version, DBT-Skills System (DBT-SS), has been developed in the USA for individuals […]
Do you want to translate Skills System materials into a different language?
If the answer is “yes!” this video is a must-watch! In September 2021 a group of people who either have translated or are in the process of translating material met for an in-depth conversation about the translation process. Teams from the Netherlands (Dutch), Sweden (Swedish), […]
Handouts for Children are Now Available!
The Skills System workgroup of practitioners who work with children completed a set of adapted handouts for Elementary children and High School students. The worked examples were adapted to be age-appropriate and relevant for these age groups. If you have purchased the Emotion Regulation Skills […]
Free CEU’s For E-Learning!
The E-Learning will provide 6 hours of NASW and LMHC CEU’s for Free!
Skills System in Iceland
It was in the middle of June 2017 and the sun was shining in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We – Bjargey Una and Halldor – were a part of a small group of professionals and managers from Iceland, attending the IASSIDD Health Conference Belfast 2017: Bridging […]
Lilly Pilly Zooming in Australia
Hi, my name is Tienne Simons, and I am a mental health social worker working in Sydney, Australia with a Not for Profit called Lilly Pilly. In Oz, we have a program called NDIS, the National Disability Insurance Scheme. NDIS is a government-funded program that […]
Skills System and Telehealth in San Diego, CA
Brian Newcomer, AMFT, LAADC
President, Center for Personal Growth, San Diego, CA
Background
The Center for Personal Growth (CPG) has been using the Skills System with people with intellectual disabilities and/or physical challenges (e.g. mobility issues, visual-impairment, hard of hearing) since 2010. CPG has a contract […]
90-Minute Skills System Training by Julie F. Brown, PhD. for Psychologists at Pluryn in the Netherlands
Julie Brown, the author of the Skills System, conducted a workshop via Zoom for the Pluryn team in Holland on March 3, 2020. Forty-five psychologists attended the training in Holland and the presentation was available to the public through the Skills System. The Pluryn team […]
Course 2. Skills Coaching Strategies is available!
Course 2. Skills Coaching Strategies was added to the Skills System E-Learning in April 2020. Course 1. Skills Basics helps people learn important self-regulation strategies. When families, groups or teams learn skills, it helps them co-regulate together. Course 2. Skills Coaching Strategies will be completed […]
My Skills Coach App Project
The Skills System is working with Steve Sutter at CreateAbility Concepts, Inc. to develop the My Skills Coach app. I am very excited about this opportunity; CreateAbility is an amazing company that helps vulnerable […]
Skills Rap “Regulators”
Why a Skills song?
Music can mobilizes essential/core parts of us—the notes and rhythms carry us through the moment. It sets us free and anchors us all at the same time! Songs can teach in subtle ways that release awareness, insights, and connections over […]
Skills System Competency Questionnaire (SSCQ)
Although the Skills System is user-friendly model, becoming a skills instructor who teaches individuals with complex issues and trains their staff/family members how to skills coach, requires a high level of Skills System competency. The SSCQ is a tools that prompts self-reflection and orients you […]
Recent Publication: Free PDF Download
Beyond the Surface of Consumer-Staff Relationships. Brown, J.B., Hamilton-Mason, J., Maramaldi, P., & Barnhill, L.J. (2018). Global Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, 4(4), 1-6.
Abstract
The perspectives of individuals diagnosed with an intellectual disability and mental illness who demonstrate challenging behaviors are underrepresented in the literature. The goal […]
The Sexual Assault Epidemic No One Talks About
Pauline sits after practice for a Christmas show with fellow group members of a day program at the Arc Northeastern Pennsylvania. Pauline, who has intellectual disabilities, has been with the Arc program since 2014, after an emergency removal from her previous caretaker’s home by Adult […]
Communication Crossroads: Recent Publication – Free Download
Download Free PDF
Sweden DBT Team doing Skills System Research
The DBT team in Lund, Sweden has been working with DBT for 20 years. The team consists of 13 experienced DBT therapists of various professional backgrounds. Such as physicians, psychologists, social workers and psychotherapists. The team has been providing well-appreciated services and is conducting multiple […]
The Carlat Report-Psychiatry
Download The Carlat Report Visit The Carlat Website
Improving Assess of DBT for Individuals with Cognitive Challenges
Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience heighten vulnerabilities related to complex biopsychosocial factors, yet have limited access to comprehensive psychologically-based treatments to address these pervasive problems. Dr. Brown, a DBT trainer with Behavioral Tech, LLC- Linehan Institute, was invited to write a book chapter about […]
The National DBT Conference in Lund, Sweden (21-22 September 2017)
Julie F Brown PhD,
Justice Resource Institute’s Integrated Clinical Services Rhode Island.
At this years DBT event, Dr. Julie Brown will be lecturing on the topic of DBT for clients with cognitive challenges: The Emotion Regulation Skills System, according to the model that Dr. Brown has developed. […]
Translating the Skills System Handouts into Other Languages
The Skills System handouts are currently available in English, Swedish, Icelandic, Dutch and Korean. The entire book has been translated into Dutch.
The following steps we taken by a team in Sweden to translate the Skills System handouts into Swedish. They did an amazing job with […]
An Innovative Approach to Delivery of the Skills System to People with Developmental Disabilities in Northern Ontario
Tina Benevides, Ph.D. and Stephen White, M.A., C. Psych., from Hands The FamilyHelpNetwork.ca and North Community Network of Specialized Care in Northern Ontario wrote this article entitled An Innovative Approach to Delivery of the Skills System to People with Developmental Disabilities in Northern Ontario for the NADD Bulletin. Tina […]
Treatment Tool in Addictions
Michele Waldron, Psy.D is a clinical psychologist and licensed drug and alcohol counselor. She works at Northeast Residential Services as a consultant to group homes that serve individuals with developmental and mental health disabilities. She is also a psychotherapist at The Moss Group, a private […]
Jump in With Both Feet!
It has come to my attention that many newcomers to the Skills System and those who have been using the model for years are continuing to utilize the 2011 self-published text (The Skills System Instructor’s Guide: An Emotion Regulation Skills Curriculum for All Learning Abilities). […]
Exploring Family Relationships: Free PDF Download
Download from our Books & Articles page
Guilford Press New Instant Best Seller!
The Emotion Regulation Skills System for the Cognitively Challenged Client: A DBT™-Informed Approach (Brown, 2016) was recently made a Guilford Press Instant Best Seller. Thank you all for purchasing this revised version of the Skills System!
The Competence Vacuum – Dr. Susan Vaught, Ph.D
Dr. Susan Vaught, Ph.D is a clinical neuropsychologist and serves as the Director of the Psychology Department at Western State Hospital in Kentucky. She provides clinical services to the hospital’s Multiple Medical Needs Unit and works extensively with the hospital’s special populations (geriatrics, brain injury, […]
Treating Individuals with ID who have Histories of Sexual Abusing Behaviors
Deborah Jackson, LICSW is the Program Director of Justice Resource Institute- Integrated Clinical Services contributed this post. Deborah is intensively trained in DBT and has specialized expertise in the area of treating individuals with co-occurring ID and mental illness (MI). She has presented at several […]
Using the Skills System with Children
Julie F. Brown, PhD posted the following comment on the DBT ListServe related to the application of the Skills System with children. Context of this excerpt: Many DBT practitioners were voicing needing DBT resources for children and families. The following comments were added by other […]
DBT ListServe Post: Adapting DBT to Improve Access
Background — There are ongoing debates in the DBT world about adapting the model for special populations. Here are samples of the points related to increasing accessibility of DBT for people with ID. How much adaptation is too much? Does the language make the treatment DBT? Do the […]
A Response from Beverly Long, PsyD, LP
“Julie, thank you so much for your thoughtful description of the origins of the Skills System, and the clear way in which you outlined the debate about what is DBT (I don’t know how to add the TM like you did), and what is DBT-informed […]