DBT Skills Program | Ages 16+
When Emotions Feel Intense and Hard to Navigate
Sometimes the hardest part of an intense emotion is how quickly it takes over. A young person may know what usually helps when they are calm — but once distress, frustration, anxiety or overwhelm becomes intense, those strategies can suddenly feel much harder to access.
For neurodivergent young people, sensory load, uncertainty, social demands, communication differences, executive functioning demands and accumulated stress can also influence how much capacity is available in that moment.
The Social Space DBT Skills Program provides structured, practical teaching in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness — with opportunities for young people and their families to develop a shared understanding of the skills.
The aim is not to teach young people that strong emotions are wrong. It is to expand the number of options available when those emotions become difficult to navigate.
- Mindfulness
- Emotion Regulation
- Distress Tolerance
- Interpersonal Effectiveness
When Emotions Become Intense
Knowing a Strategy and Using It in the Moment Are Different Things
A young person may understand what they “should” do when they are calm. Take a break. Use a coping strategy. Explain what they need. Slow things down. Walk away from an argument. But when distress becomes intense, access to those strategies can become much harder. That does not necessarily mean the young person is refusing to use them — it may mean the emotional, sensory or cognitive load in that moment has exceeded their available capacity.
DBT skills training breaks complex emotional and interpersonal situations into concrete skills that can be learned, discussed, rehearsed and practised over time.
About the Program
Practical Skills for Difficult Moments
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy — usually shortened to DBT — is an established psychological approach originally developed by psychologist Dr Marsha Linehan. DBT combines two ideas that can sometimes feel contradictory: acceptance and change. Acceptance involves recognising what is happening right now without immediately judging the emotion or experience as wrong. Change involves developing skills and considering what might help next.
The Social Space DBT Skills Program draws on DBT principles and skills training and adapts the way these concepts are taught for neurodivergent young people and their families. Rather than relying on abstract explanations, skills are made explicit, structured, practical, visual where useful, relevant to real situations, and flexible enough to consider individual differences. The aim is not to make neurodivergent emotional expression look more neurotypical — it is to increase understanding and options.
Participants explore four core DBT skill areas: mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness.
This is a DBT skills program, not comprehensive DBT treatment — it does not include individual DBT therapy, telephone coaching or a therapist consultation team.
Program Suitability
Could DBT Skills Be a Good Fit for Your Young Person?
The DBT Skills Program may be worth exploring when a young person experiences significant emotional intensity or overwhelm and would benefit from a structured, practical way of learning and rehearsing skills.
Recovery after emotional or sensory overload can take significant time
Difficult interactions can escalate quickly
Would benefit from practical, explicit skills rather than abstract discussion alone
Would like strategies for navigating distress
Able to participate in a structured group-learning environment with appropriate supports
Emotions can become intense very quickly
Stress or overwhelm can make it difficult to access strategies in the moment
Communicating needs or boundaries can be difficult in emotionally charged situations
Mindfulness and awareness skills may be useful
The family would benefit from developing a shared language around emotions and coping
Your young person does not need to experience every one of these things. Suitability is considered individually, taking into account strengths, goals, current needs, communication and sensory preferences, family context and whether the group format is likely to provide an appropriate learning environment.
Skills & Practice
Four Skill Areas — Different Tools for Different Moments
Mindfulness
Noticing what is happening in the present moment
Observing thoughts, emotions and physical sensations
Recognising internal and external cues
Creating a pause before automatically reacting
Emotion Regulation
Identifying and understanding emotions
Recognising factors that can increase emotional vulnerability
Noticing emotional patterns
Developing strategies that can influence emotional responses
Distress Tolerance
Recognising when distress is very high
Short-term crisis-survival strategies
Grounding and sensory-informed strategies where appropriate
Distinguishing solving a problem from getting through the immediate moment
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Communicating needs
Asking for help
Setting boundaries
Navigating disagreement while considering the relationship
Parents Learn Too
A Shared Language Helps When Emotions Are Already High
Young people are not learning these skills in isolation. Parent/carer sessions help families understand the DBT concepts and language being introduced in the young person’s group. This matters because difficult moments often happen at home, long after the group session has ended.
A parent who understands the skills has more context for what the young person is learning and can support opportunities to practise without turning every emotional moment into a therapy exercise. Parents/carers can explore validation, understanding emotional vulnerability, responding when distress is high, supporting skill use, communication, boundaries, the balance between acceptance and change, and their own responses during difficult interactions.
The aim is not for parents to become therapists. It is to give families enough shared understanding that the young person is not expected to carry all of the learning alone.
How It Works
Learn. Practise. Apply. Revisit.
- 01
Understand
Learn a DBT concept or skill and why it may be useful.
- 02
Make It Concrete
Use examples, visuals, discussion and structured explanation to connect the idea to real situations.
- 03
Practise
Rehearse how the skill might work before needing it in a difficult moment.
- 04
Apply
Experiment with skills between sessions in relevant everyday situations.
- 05
Revisit
Reflect on what worked, what did not and what might need to be adapted.
Why This Program?
What Makes This Program Different
Four Practical DBT Skill Areas
Participants explore mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness.
Neurodivergent-Informed Delivery
Skills are made explicit and practical, with consideration of sensory, communication, processing and executive functioning differences.
Acceptance + Change
The program does not begin from the assumption that every difficult feeling needs to disappear.
Parents Learn Too
Parent/carer sessions create shared understanding and language around the skills.
Real-Life Application
Participants practise considering when and how skills might be useful outside the group.
Research & Evidence
What Does the Research Tell Us?
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy has a substantial research base, including research with adolescents experiencing significant emotion dysregulation and related difficulties. DBT for adolescents commonly incorporates skills training and family involvement, and research examining parent/carer DBT skills groups has also reported promising changes in areas such as parent emotion regulation, communication and family functioning.
However, research specifically evaluating The Social Space’s 12-session neurodivergent DBT skills adaptation has not been established. The broader DBT evidence below should not be read as direct proof of this exact program format.
DBT Skills With Adolescents
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) has a research base including randomised controlled trials. One trial randomised 77 adolescents with repeated self-harm to DBT-A or enhanced usual care and found DBT-A more effective at reducing self-harm. This trial's participants were adolescents with recent, repeated self-harm and suicidal behaviour — a specific clinical research population, not a description of everyone who attends this skills program. (Mehlum et al., 2014 )
Parent Skills & Family Communication
A mixed-methods evaluation involving 41 parents/carers who completed a dedicated DBT parent/carer skills group (within a service for high-risk adolescents with severe emotion dysregulation) reported reductions in general distress and problems in family communication, alongside increases in perceived openness of communication and family strengths/adaptability. The study did not include a control group, so findings should be described as promising rather than proof of effectiveness. (Smith et al., 2023 )
Parent-Only DBT Skills
A small pilot study examined a 12-week DBT skills intervention for seven parents of adolescents with features of borderline personality disorder. The study reported changes in areas including parenting/rearing styles, emotion regulation and mindfulness-related skills, with some changes maintained at six-month follow-up. Because this was a very small, uncontrolled pilot, it demonstrates research interest in shorter parent DBT skills formats rather than validating any specific program. (Marco, Mayoral & Hervás, 2024 )
Important Context
Research findings describe outcomes observed across groups of participants and cannot predict how an individual young person or family will respond. The broader evidence base for DBT and DBT-A includes populations and treatment formats that differ from The Social Space’s 12-session skills program. Research specifically evaluating this neurodivergent adaptation is more limited, so participation should not be presented as guaranteeing a particular outcome.
Flexible Delivery
Flexible Ways to Participate
Mascot Clinic
Structured face-to-face group delivery at The Social Space.
Online / Telehealth
Online participation may be available depending on the current program format and individual suitability.
Current delivery options and availability are discussed during the initial consultation.
Want to Learn More About the DBT Skills Program?
Our team can learn more about your young person and family, answer your questions and discuss whether the DBT Skills Program and available group format may be a suitable option.