Family & Partners DBT Support Group
Family & Partners DBT Support Group
Supporting someone who experiences emotional dysregulation can be incredibly
challenging. It can be painful, confusing, and exhausting to watch someone you care about struggle with intense emotions, impulsive behaviours, self-harm, suicidal thoughts, relationship difficulties, or repeated crises.
Our Family & Partners DBT Support Group provides a structured and supportive space for family members, partners, and loved ones to better understand emotional dysregulation and learn DBT-informed strategies that can strengthen relationships, reduce conflict, and support family wellbeing.
Understanding Emotional Dysregulation
Emotional dysregulation can make emotions feel overwhelming, fast-changing, and difficult to manage. For some people, this may be linked to diagnoses such as Borderline Personality Disorder, complex trauma, ADHD, autism, anxiety, depression, addiction, or other mental health difficulties.
When emotions feel unbearable, people may respond in ways that are hard for loved ones to understand. This can include withdrawing, becoming angry, acting impulsively, seeking reassurance, self-harming, using substances, or feeling intensely afraid of rejection or abandonment.
These behaviours can place enormous strain on relationships. Families and partners may find themselves walking on eggshells, unsure whether to step in, step back, reassure, challenge, or set boundaries.
This group helps loved ones understand these patterns through a DBT-informed lens and learn practical ways to respond with greater clarity, confidence, and compassion.
About the Group
This 10-week online course is based on the Family Connections model and draws on principles from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.
The group is designed to help family members, partners, and loved ones better understand emotional dysregulation, develop practical communication skills, and learn how to support someone they care about without losing sight of their own wellbeing.
Sessions are structured, educational, and supportive. The group is not family therapy, and your loved one does not need to be attending DBT UK for you to join.
What the Course Covers
Over 10 weeks, the group will cover:
Week 1: Understanding BPD and emotional dysregulation
Week 2: The biosocial theory of emotional dysregulation
Weeks 3–6: DBT skills — how to support your loved one
Week 7: Family support mechanisms
Week 8: The power of validation Week 9: Change strategies
Week 10: Problem-solving and troubleshooting
About the Facilitators
This group is facilitated by Darryl Christie and Claire Butler, bringing together extensive experience in DBT, family support, clinical leadership, and skills teaching.
Darryl is the founder of DBT UK and one of the UK’s most experienced accredited Dialectical Behaviour Therapy clinicians. He was among the first clinicians in the UK to achieve accreditation in DBT, having trained with the Linehan Institute in the USA and British Isles DBT in the UK. Alongside leading DBT UK, Darryl provides specialist supervision, training, and consultancy to clinicians and services across the NHS, private healthcare, and voluntary sector.
Claire is an accredited member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy and the Society for DBT. She has trained in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy with British Isles DBT Training and Marsha Linehan’s Behavioural Tech programme, and completed her Postgraduate Diploma in DBT at Bangor University. Claire has extensive experience running DBT skills groups for individuals and families across private and charitable settings, supporting both adolescents and adults experiencing emotional dysregulation, self-harm, and relationship difficulties.
Together, Darryl and Claire bring clarity and clinical expertise to the group, helping families and partners better understand emotional dysregulation and respond to their loved ones with greater confidence, compassion, and skill.
Course Details
Format: Weekly 90-minute sessions online
Duration: 10 weeks
Cost: £110 per person / £160 per couple, per session
Facilitators: Darryl Christie and Claire Butler
To register your interest or request further information, please email info@dbt- uk.co.uk.