Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
November & December 2025 (Including Nov 18+19, 25+26, Dec 2+3, Dec 9+10)
9:00 am – 1:00 pm EDT
Online via Zoom
Facilitated by: Drs. Martin Bohus & Shelley McMain
This 4-week course, offered through the Centre for MindBody Health, provides a comprehensive examination of DBT-PTSD based on a psycho-social model. Within this 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 posits that these emotions are corroborated by dysfunctional cognitive assumptions and dysfunctional behaviors such as self-injury, suicidal ideation, dissociation or intoxication and 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 4-week course provides comprehensive training in DBT-PTSD including a manual. The course also fulfills the prerequisite for enrolling in future Advanced Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder workshops.
AT THE CONCLUSION OF THIS TRAINING, YOU’LL BE ABLE TO:
- Describe the basic psychosocial and neurobehavioral 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
Registrants will retain access to the course material and recordings of all classes for 30 days after the course training concludes. All registrants will be able to download core content (PPT or PDF) and view recordings of classes. Class recordings cannot be downloaded.
PRESENTERS
Martin Bohus, MD, received his specialty in Psychiatry and in Psychosomatic Medicine. He holds the Chair of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy at Heidelberg University and is Scientific Director at the Central Institute of Mental Health in Mannheim. He holds a visiting professorship at the University of Antwerp and Harvard Medical School. He was the president of the European Society for the Studies of Personality Disorders (ESSPD) and president of the German Association for DBT. He was President and initiator of the 1st International Congress on Borderline Personality Disorder. He has published 300+ articles and book chapters, mainly on mechanisms of psychotherapy, Borderline Personality Disorder, and PTSD.
Dr. Shelley McMain, PhD, C.Psych.
Shelley McMain, PhD, C. Psych., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Head of the Borderline Personality Disorder Clinic and a Clinician Scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), and Co-Founder of the Centre for MindBody Health in Toronto. She is a clinician, educator and researcher and a Certified DBT Practitioner. Dr. McMain is recognized as a leader in DBT in Canada and internationally. She conducts research in DBT, personality disorders, emotion regulation, suicide and self-harm, substance abuse, and psychotherapy process and outcomes. She has delivered 300+ conferences, colloquia, grand rounds, and trainings, and is widely recognized for her excellence in DBT training.
DETAILS AT A GLANCE
Early Bird Fee (Before Oct. 18, 2025 at 11:59PM): $999 CAD+HST
Regular Fee (After Oct. 18, 2024 at 12:00AM): $1,099 CAD+HST
Student Fee: $999 CAD+HST (Students must submit a copy/scan of their valid student ID or confirmation of enrolment to: cmbhwdbtorkshops@gmail.com)
Delivery: Online. This course has a webinar component which will be recorded for review.
Audience: Multi-disciplinary mental health professionals interested in treating complex PTSD using evidence-based principles and procedures. Basic knowledge of DBT is recommended.
Continuing Education (CE) Credits:
- OPA: Pending Approval for 28 CE credits for psychological practitioners.
- MDPAC: Pending Approval for 28 CE credits for psychological practitioners. for 28 hours of MDPAC Group CE credits and 4 hours of MDPAC CCI credits (automatically calculated when MDPAC member submits Group CE hours).
Cancellation Policy: We will allow refunds that are requested 30 days prior to the event start date. Attendees can request a refund through Eventbrite.
Refunds will not be issued after October 13, 2025. CMBH reserves the right to cancel workshops due to unforeseen circumstances.
