DBT for Self-Sabotaging Behaviors
Over 25 Proven Strategies for Overcoming Therapy-Interfering Behaviors and Unlocking Real Progress
- Speaker:
- Suzette Bray, LMFT
- Duration:
- Approx 6 hours
- Copyright:
-
Aug 05, 2026
- Product Code:
- POS150793
- Media Type:
- Digital Seminar - Also available: Live Webinar
Tags: APA
Description
When therapy keeps stalling, it’s not an effort problem, it’s a skills gap.
You have seen it with your client’s week after week… “Doorknob moments” making sessions run over, the crisis-of-the-week derailing the treatment plan and self-destructive behaviors that stall progress.
The therapy hour gets hijacked; goals are pushed aside—and you leave feeling like you’re starting from scratch every time. Clients call it selfsabotage, but you know these are self-protective behaviors that can be overcome… you just don’t have the tools to change them.
But here’s the thing… it doesn’t have to be that way.
That’s why we’ve partnered with Suzette Bray, LMFT, seasoned DBT trainer and author of the book Simple DBT Coping Skills to equip you with the skills set you need to move clients’ repeated setbacks to steady breakthroughs and to keep therapy on track —even when emotions run high.
In only one day, you’ll learn:
- Practical skills to spot therapy-interfering behaviors early on
- Fast-acting regulation techniques to defuse “crisis of the week” and keep goals on track
- Do’s & Don’ts for boundary work and polarized thinking in session
- How to develop a client-specific kit with real-life skills clients can practice in between sessions
Don’t let another session get hijacked. Get the skills to keep therapy on track and set clients up for breakthroughs—not setbacks.
Register today!
Credit
Speaker
Suzette Bray, LMFT Related seminars and products
Suzette Bray, LMFT, is a psychotherapist, author and trainer who founded and directed a comprehensive DBT program for more than a decade. She has written four books grounded in DBT-based skills, including the upcoming Simple DBT Coping Skills: 75 Ways to Live Mindfully, Regulate Emotions, Manage Distress, and Improve Relationships. She equips therapists, clients, and families with DBT-informed tools that are approachable and designed for real-world use.
Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Suzette Bray maintains a private practice and receives royalties as a published author. She receives a speaking honorarium from PESI, Inc. She has no relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations.
Non-financial: Suzette Bray has no relevant non-financial relationships.
Additional Info
Access for Self-Study (Non-Interactive)Access never expires for this product.
Questions?
Visit our FAQ page at www.pesi.com/faq or contact us at www.pesi.com/info
Objectives
- Differentiate crisis moments from problem-solving moments using a brief, plain-language decision check.
- Apply a brief relaxation technique in session to encourage down-regulation of physiological arousal and restore therapeutic focus.
- Utilize DBT strategies to promote emotional regulation in adolescent clients.
- Identify key links maintaining a therapy-interfering pattern using a behavioral chain analysis approach.
- Develop a client-specific menu of coping options.
- Analyze the essential components of an effective between-session coping plan that anticipates obstacles.
Outline
Foundations and purposes of therapy interfering behaviors
- Spot therapy-interfering behaviors in and out of sessions
- Identify recurrent dysfunctional patterns and related behaviors in the therapy room
- Strategies for addressing “crisis of the week” in sessions
- Real-world case of in-session derailments
Containment strategies of in the moment regulation
- The role of immediate containment for safety and learning
- 5 brief strategies for immediate regulation in session
- Linguistic strategies for lowering arousal and refocusing the client
- Teach- Try-Debrief strategy for experiential learning
Moving client’s crisis to problem-solving states to improve session stability
- Strategies anchored by a 0–10 urge scale
- Priority setting interventions in the therapy room
- Outcome-focused strategies that protect clients’ goals
- Application of the Stay-On-Track Framework
Working with teens and therapyinterfering behaviors
- Spotting therapy interferes with behaviors in teens
- Teen-adapted language when explaining self sabotaging behaviors
- Teens-specific strategies for emotional regulation
Real life skills clients can practice in between sessions
- Brief strategies reduce reactivity
- Mindfulness and attention-shifting strategies
- Acceptance-aligned and body-based skills for acute distress
- Improve-the-moment strategies for distress tolerance
Prevent dysfunctional behaviors and plan long lasting change
- Create a personalized map for understanding and preventing self-destructive behaviors
- Strategies for selecting turning points to reduce dysfunctional behaviors
- Reinforcement strategies to support progress
- Limitations of the research and potential risks
Maintain progress with coping ahead strategies and tracking resources
- Define clients’ unique daily wins, they can track
- Coping Ahead skills as plan clients can carry into the week
- Build a personalized crisis survival tool kit
- Create a simple daily tracker and avoiding weekly relapses
Target Audience
- Counselors
- Marriage and Family Therapists
- Psychologists
- Addiction Counselors
- Social Workers
- Case Managers
- Psychiatrists
- Psychiatric Nurse Practitioners
- Other Mental Health Professionals
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