October 8-9, 2026
St. Louis, MO
Course Description
DBT Individual Therapy: Designing Effective Interventions provides clinicians with practical training in the structure, strategies, and interventions utilized within DBT individual therapy sessions.
Participants will learn how DBT therapists prioritize treatment targets, conduct behavioral assessment and chain analysis, identify maintaining variables, implement validation and change strategies, and structure effective treatment sessions for emotionally dysregulated clients. The workshop emphasizes
practical clinical application and intervention design while maintaining fidelity to behavioral and dialectical principles.
This highly interactive training includes lecture, case conceptualization, experiential exercises, video examples, role-play activities, and clinical discussion. Participants will examine common treatment challenges involving suicidality, therapy-interfering behaviors, emotional dysregulation, traumatic invalidation, and treatment engagement.
This workshop is part of a three-training DBT learning series that also includes DBT FUNdamentals: Laying the Foundations for Effective Practice and DBT Skills: Tools for Building a Life Worth Living. Trainings may be taken independently and are not required to be completed in sequence.
Presenter Bios:
Casey Limmer, MSW, LCSW, DBT-LBC began her clinical career specializing in the treatment of trauma sustained by victims of violent crime and later developed programs supporting bereaved children and families. Her clinical focus ultimately shifted toward the treatment of suicidal behaviors, self-injury, severe emotion dysregulation, and Borderline Personality Disorder.
Casey received her first DBT training in 2001 and has since completed intensive and advanced DBT training programs. She has developed and overseen multiple DBT programs in the St. Louis region and completed the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification process. Casey previously taught Applied Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy courses at Washington University in St. Louis and currently coordinates DBT trainings for clinicians all over the world.
Casey has trained in CBT with Judith Beck and in DBT with Marsha Linehan. She has received the Excellence.
Adrianne Martin, MSW, LCSW has worked in crisis intervention settings since 2007 and began specializing in suicide-related care while completing her Master of Social Work degree at Washington University in St. Louis. Adrianne is passionate about clinician training and suicide prevention education and serves as a Master Trainer for Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).
Adrianne provides DBT-informed treatment through her private practice and collaborates with St. Louis DBT in the treatment of individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder and related disorders involving emotional dysregulation.
Timeline:
Day 1
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Welcome and Orientation
• Overview of DBT individual therapy
• Structure of comprehensive DBT
• Behavioral and dialectical foundations
• Review of treatment assumptions
9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
Structure of DBT Individual Therapy
• Treatment hierarchy
• Life-threatening behaviors
• Therapy-interfering behaviors
• Quality-of-life-interfering behaviors
• Skills acquisition targets
• Structuring individual sessions
10:45 AM – 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Diary Cards and Behavioral Monitoring
• Functions of diary cards
• Monitoring targets and skills use
• Prioritizing treatment targets
• Reviewing diary cards effectively
• Increasing accountability and engagement
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunch Break
1:30 PM – 3:00 PM
Behavioral Assessment Through Chain Analysis
• Components of chain analysis
• Identifying prompting events
• Links and consequences
• Identifying maintaining variables
• Vulnerability factors
• Reinforcement patterns
• Conducting chain analysis collaboratively
• Video demonstration or role-play
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM
Break
3:15 PM – 5:00 PM
Solution Analysis and Commitment Strategies
• Generating alternative responses
• Skills application within solution analysis
• Commitment strategies
• Troubleshooting commitment difficulties
• Missing Links Analysis
• Foot-in-the-door and shaping techniques
• Experiential practice
Day 2
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM
Review and Integration
• Review of Day 1 concepts
• Clinical application discussion
• Questions and consultation
9:30 AM – 10:45 AM
Validation and Acceptance Strategies
• Levels of validation
• Radical genuineness
• Warm engagement
• Balancing acceptance and change
• Common therapist errors
• Validation role-play exercises
10:45 AM – 11:00 AM
Break
11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Change Strategies in DBT Individual Therapy
• Cognitive modification strategies
• Exposure-based interventions
• Contingency management
• Problem solving
• Behavioral rehearsal
• Dialectical strategies
12:30 PM – 1:30 PM
Lunch Break
1:30 PM – 2:45 PM
Therapy-Interfering Behaviors
• Identifying therapy and therapist-interfering behaviors
• Managing client disengagement
• Treatment boundaries
• Repairing ruptures in treatment
2:45 PM – 3:00 PM
Break
3:00 PM – 4:15 PM
DBT Programming and Protocols
• The DBT Consult Team – function and format
• Management of burnout and consultation needs
• Coaching calls and between-session generalization
• Suicide and case management protocols
4:15 PM – 5:00 PM
Clinical Integration and Closing Discussion
• Applying interventions across settings
• Common implementation barriers
• Ethical considerations
• Q&A and wrap-up
Learning Objectives:
Participants will be able to:
1. Describe the structure and hierarchy of targets utilized in DBT individual therapy.
2. Identify behavioral principles used to conceptualize and intervene with emotionally dysregulated behaviors.
3. Demonstrate the use of behavioral chain analysis in case conceptualization and treatment planning.
4. Distinguish between validation strategies and change-oriented interventions utilized in DBT individual therapy.
5. Explain strategies for addressing therapy-interfering behaviors in DBT treatment.
6. Apply dialectical strategies to common clinical dilemmas encountered in DBT individual therapy.
7. Describe the function of diary cards and behavioral monitoring within DBT treatment.
8. Demonstrate the use of solution analysis and missing links analysis through role-play and experiential exercises.
9. Distinguish between appropriate and timely use of irreverence vs. warm engagement communication styles.
10. Identify commitment strategies used in DBT Therapy and demonstrate the use of those strategies through role-play.
For more information: https://www.stldbt.com/trainings-and-workshops
This course is Interactive .
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