James Fitzgerald Therapy, PLLC

James Fitzgerald, MS, NCC, AAP, Psychotherapist

Strengthening Your Conscious Self © 2022

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Mindfulness Skills Training Module

This page is under construction (undergoing updates & revisions); please check back often.

Copyright Protected Content

(DBT Skills Training Manual, Handouts, Worksheets)

This area of the website is for James Fitzgerald’s therapy clients only. You must be registered, with a subscription, and logged into your account to view this page. If you have reached this website in error, please notify the website owner, and choose another page to exit. Publishers of the content have given common use permission for me to use this material only for me and my clients.

This page (mindfulness module therapy action plan) on the website (www.jamesfitzgeraldtherapy.com) is still under construction. Many of the links to websites, videos, audio, and documents may not be set up and working. However, you are welcome to start using this page as a reference and guide to the homework between therapy sessions. I humbly ask for your patience with the process of setting up this valuable resource.

The content on this website is purely for informational and educational purposes only. It should not be used in place of professional mental health care by a trained professional certified in DBT. I have not received DBT certification from the DBT Linehan Board of Certification. However, DBT has been informing and influencing my work with patients and clients for the past 10 years. I have thoroughly studied the requisite materials required to teach DBT, including the books Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training Manual, Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Handouts and Worksheets, and The Expanded Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training Manual; along with several other books on DBT skills and clinical application. I have completed the work in DBT myself and have experienced the results of effective implementation of the skills learned. I have just completed 2 DBT certification courses produced and presented by PESI. I will update this website when I have completed the training course certificates.

For more information about why it is important for therapists to become certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, please visit the official website:

[DBT-Linehan Board of Certification]

How to Use this Page

I invite you to complete the steps in order as they are listed. The lesson link (buttons) will open the guided educational lesson based on the book DBT Skills Training Manual. The handout link (buttons) will open a PDF document from the book DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets.

Links to YouTube Videos from other sources will be available on each lesson’s or activity’s page. The video link (buttons) will open a YouTube video. If you do not have a YouTube Premium membership subscription, there will be advertisements. In the future, the videos from YouTube will be replaced by self-published videos embedded in the website page, (NO ADS!).

Handouts and Worksheets from other sources will be available on each lesson’s or activity’s page as a PDF. The handout and worksheet links will open a document that you can download and print for your personal use. The handouts and worksheets are for additional support only. Completing the lessons and activities on the portal are just as effective as the documents you print, and most likely will be more convenient for some of you.

I am always open for criticism, feedback, questions, comments, concerns, advice, and suggestions. Please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Overview & Goals

Review the outline of the module and the goals of mindfulness skills training.

Wise Mind

Learning the integration of your states of mind: reasonable, emotional, wise.

What Skills

Learn the what skills, ideas for practicing them, tracking your practice.

How Skills

Learn the how skills, ideas for practicing them, tracking your practice.

Spiritual Perspective

Practicing in Theological, Non-secular, Buddhist, and Hindu Traditions.

Balance of Being & Doing.

Learn balance, ideas for practicing being mind, and tracking your practice.

Pleasant & Unpleasant Events

Tracking pleasant and unpleasant events in the calendar handout.

Middle Path

Finding the synthesis between opposites (dialectics).

Meditation Practice

Strengthen your mindfulness practice with formal meditation.

Quick Links to DBT Modules

Self Help DBT Websites

Please visit these other sites while I finish construction on this page.

More Mindfulness & Meditation Resources

Step 1: Mindfulness Module Introduction & Overview

A. Introduction to Mindfulness & Overview of the Mindfulness Module.

B. Goals of the Mindfulness Module.

C. Core Mindfulness Skills

Step 2: Wise Mind

A. Wise Mind: States of Mind

B. Ideas for Practicing Wise Mind

C. Practicing Wise Mind

Step 3: Mindfulness “What” Skills

A. Taking Hold of Your Mind: “What” Skills

B. Mindfulness “What” Skills: Observing, Describing, Participating

C. Mindfulness “What” Skills: Recording/Tracking Observing, Describing, Participating 

D. Mindfulness “What” Skills: Observe 

E. Mindfulness “What” Skills: Describe

F. Mindfulness “What” Skills: Participate

G. Mindfulness “What” Skills: Journaling & Your Diary Card

Step 4: Mindfulness “How” Skills

A. Taking Hold of Your Mind: “How” Skills

B. Mindfulness “How” Skills: Non-judgmentalness, One-Mindfulness, Effectiveness

C. Mindfulness “How” Skills: Recording/Tracking Non-judgmentalness, One-Mindfulness, Effectiveness

D. Mindfulness “How” Skills: Ideas for Practicing Non-judgmentally

E. Mindfulness “How” Skills: Ideas for Practicing One-Mindfully

F. Mindfulness “How” Skills: Ideas for Practicing Effectively

G. Mindfulness “How” Skills: Journaling & Your Diary Card

H. Summary

Step 5: A Spiritual Perspective on Mindfulness

A. Other Perspectives on Mindfulness (Videos & Meditations)

B. Overview: Other Perspectives on Mindfulness

C. A Spiritual Perspective

D. Wise Mind: A Spiritual Perspective

E. Practicing Loving Kindness

Step 6: Balancing Doing Mind & Being Mind

A. Skillful Means: Balancing Doing Mind and Being Mind

B. Ideas for Practicing Balancing Doing Mind and Being Mind

C. Practice Balancing Being Mind with Doing Mind

D. Mindfulness of Being and Doing Calendar

Step 7: Pleasant & Unpleasant Events & Experiences

A. Mindfulness of Pleasant Events Calendar

B. Mindfulness of Unpleasant Events Calendar

Step 8: The Middle Path

A. Walking the Middle Path: Finding the Synthesis between Opposites

B. Walking the Middle Path to Wise Mind

C. Analyzing Yourself on the Middle Path

D. Walking the Middle Path Calendar

Step 9: An Informal Mindfulness Practice & Plan

A.. Mindfulness

B. Palouse Mindfulness (8 Week Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction)

Step 10: A Formal Mindfulness Program & Plan

A. Daily Mindfulness Assignment (365 Day Challenge)

Every day, do one of these activities, with your daily assignment

B. Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

Step 11: Integration with Therapy Plan (Other Approaches)

A. Internal Family Systems

B. Mind-Body Approaches

C. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

D. DBT Dialectics & Radical Acceptance

E. DBT Emotion Regulation

F. DBT Distress Tolerance

G. DBT Interpersonal Effectiveness

DBT Additional Resources