Dr. Shelley McMain is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Canada. She is Head of the Borderline Personality Disorder Clinic and a Clinician Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto. She is a practicing psychotherapist, trainer, educator and researcher. Shelley is a Linehan Certified DBT individual and group therapist and currently serves on the International DBT Strategic Planning Committee. Shelley’s research interests are personality disorders, DBT, emotion regulation, suicidal and self-harm behavior and substance abuse. She has authored more than 60 articles and chapters and has a book forthcoming. She is the Principal Investigator of a large research study designed to evaluate the clinical and cost effectiveness of six months compared to one year of DBT for the treatment of suicidal individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Shelley has delivered 300+ conference, colloquia, grand rounds, and workshop presentations. Her work has led to numerous research and teaching awards including the distinguished research award from the European Society for the Study of Personality Disorders; the scientific paper prize from the American Psychoanalytic Association; the research award from the International Society for Improvement; and teaching awards from the Department of Psychiatry and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. View Dr. McMain’s publications on PubMed.

DBT Certificate Program

Dr. Shelley McMain leads a Certificate Program in Dialectical Behavior Therapy at the Centre for MindBody Health. This training is for those wanting to learn DBT at an intensive level to better implement the treatment model in their practice. This Certificate Program offers two foundation courses followed by three specialized courses. This five-course program is designed to train clinicians seeking advanced learning in DBT. You may also take courses individually to concentrate on specific topics. Each course provides rigorous content, applied training exercises, and the resources/ templates to execute DBT therapy and skills groups.

Learning Objectives

• Explain DBT’s biosocial theory, theoretical underpinnings and treatment principles.
• Create and employ DBT treatment plans for clients based on a DBT-informed case formulation.
• Implement a range of DBT strategies including validation, problem assessment and solution analysis, dialectics, structural, and motivational strategies.
• Apply the skills from DBT skills modules: Core Mindfulness; Interpersonal Effectiveness; Emotion Regulation; and Distress Tolerance.
• Plan and execute a DBT Consultation Team and deploy DBT techniques to constantly improve team functioning.

Certificate Courses

• DBT: The Basics (Foundational Training Part 1)
• DBT: Beyond The Basics (Foundational Training Part 2)
• DBT: Individual Therapy
• DBT: Skills Training
• DBT: Consultation Team

Certification vs. Certified 

The Certificate in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a specialized training program on an essential therapeutic practice. It is designed for those wanting to learn DBT at an intensive level, and those who wish to better implement the treatment model in their profession.

Certification differs from a certificate. The Centre for MindBody Health certificate program in DBT attests to the completion of an educational program. It does not involve an assessment of what was retained or what is put into practice. As part of the requirements of certification for DBT, you are required to complete a minimum of 40 didactic training hours specific to DBT. The Centre for MindBody Health certificate program in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) helps you begin to prepare for DBT certification. Completion of the certificate in DBT program does not authorize you to refer to yourself as a certified DBT practitioner.

Certification in DBT can be attained through the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification (DBT-LBC). You can refer to the requirements for certification on the DBT-LBC website to assess your readiness.

Upcoming Courses

Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

This course, offered through the Centre for MindBody Health over a four-week period, provides a comprehensive examination of DBT-PTSD based on a psycho-social 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 proposes that these emotions are corroborated by dysfunctional cognitive assumptions and dysfunctional behaviors such as self-injury, suicidal ideation, dissociation or intoxication. It further proposes 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 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).

This course provides comprehensive training in DBT-PTSD including a manual. The course also fulfills the prerequisite for enrolling in the Advanced DBT for Complex PTSD course that is offered alongside the foundational training course.

Learning Objectives

AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS TRAINING, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO:

• Describe the basic psycho-social and neuro-behavioral principles of complex PTSD
• Implement the principles of DBT-PTSD within your clinical practice
• Develop an individualized trauma model
• Teach your client skills for dissociation, distress tolerance, and regulation of trauma-related emotions
• Conduct in-sensu exposure
• Help your clients create a life worth living

Upcoming Courses

Advanced Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

This two-day case-based learning workshop focuses on Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex PTSD (DBT-PTSD). Through didactic learning and selected case presentations, the training addresses topics presenting the greatest challenges for participants.
DBT-PTSD is tailored to treat adult PTSD after childhood abuse, including those with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Most of these people show severe problems in emotion regulation, negative self-concept, dysfunctional memory processing and maladaptive social interaction. To target these core domains, DBT-PTSD merges multiple evidence-based elements: DBT principles, trauma-specific cognitive and exposure-based techniques, compassion focused interventions and behavior change procedures. DBT-PTSD is based on a psycho-social model. Typical dysfunctional behaviors can predominantly be understood as strategies to avoid or escape from trauma-associated primary emotions like powerlessness, threat, anxiety, disgust, humiliation or sexual arousal. Corroborated by dysfunctional cognitive assumptions, dysfunctional behaviors such as self-injury, suicidal ideation, dissociation, or intoxication and problematic secondary emotions such as shame, guilt, self-hatred, or chronic anger develop over time into problematic self-concepts that strongly impair quality of life. DBT-PTSD aims to help people: 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.

Learning Objectives

AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS TRAINING, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO:

• Implement the strategies and principles of DBT-PTSD in your clinical practice with greater adherence and competence.
• Gain experience in consultation and make evidence-based clinical decisions when working with clients.
• Prepare a case formulation following The Old and The New Path Model.
• Evaluate the use of the DBT-PTSD model within your own and others’ cases.

Upcoming Courses