Continuing Education

DBT With Families

May 22 & 29, 2026 · 9:00am-2:30pm EST
Virtual · Live via Zoom

About This Training:

This intermediate training focuses on applying DBT principles and strategies in family therapy—helping clinicians assess family targets, conduct family sessions, and address transactional patterns of emotion dysregulation and invalidation while maintaining adherence to DBT principles. Participants will learn how to use their existing DBT knowledge to engage entire families, with special attention given to addressing clinicians’ hesitation and fears about family work and to developing confidence in using DBT with complex family systems.

Learning Objectives:

  • Describe the theoretical rationale for integrating DBT into family therapy, including the transactional model of emotion dysregulation and its application to family system functioning.
  • Conduct a structured assessment of family functioning and identify family-level treatment targets and intervention goals consistent with DBT principles.
  • Apply the DBT treatment hierarchy to family therapy contexts, including prioritization of life- threatening behaviors, therapy-interfering behaviors, quality-of-life-interfering patterns, and skills deficits within the family system.
  • Conduct chain and double-chain analyses that capture transactional family patterns and identify key leverage points for clinical intervention.
  • Implement strategies for managing acute dysregulation in family members during session while maintaining therapeutic structure and session effectiveness.
  • Integrate DBT skills and family-adapted DBT skills into family sessions, including in-session skill coaching and facilitation of between-session skill application.
  • Identify negative reinforcement patterns that maintain unsafe or ineffective family interactions, and apply contingency management strategies to increase safety and reinforce adaptive behavior.
  • Apply DBT strategies for accurate expression, validation, and relationship reactivation within family relationships.
  • Facilitate collaborative problem-solving within family systems using DBT-consistent approaches that balance acceptance and change.
  • Select and implement appropriate methods for evaluating family therapy outcomes, including monitoring changes in family functioning, emotion regulation, and treatment adherence over time.
  • Articulate strategies for addressing common barriers to conducting DBT-informed family work, including clinician hesitancy, family resistance, and structural treatment challenges.
  • Distinguish between family therapy roles in DBT — including the therapist as skills coach, contingency manager, and validation agent — and adapt clinical stance accordingly across different family presentations.

About The Presenter:

Luciana Payne, PhD

Luciana Payne, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist specializing in work with parents, couples, and families. Dr. Payne earned her graduate degree at the University of Nevada, Reno, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at McLean Hospital, both under the mentorship of Dr. Alan Fruzzetti. She is currently an Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where she contributes to research advancing interventions for families affected by emotion dysregulation. Dr. Payne has worked with hundreds of families and professionals to enhance the quality of care parents receive in adolescent and young adult treatment programs. She has co-authored multiple publications on adapting Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for couples and families and provides training to clinicians nationally and internationally. In 2020, she co-founded The Be Center, an organization dedicated to supporting parents and families navigating complex mental health challenges. Dr. Payne’s passion lies in bridging research and real-world practice—empowering parents, strengthening families, and changing the landscape of family treatment.

Continuing Education Information

Instructional Level: 

Intermediate

Target Audience: This educational activity is intended for behavioral health professionals, including Psychologists, Social Workers, Counselors, and MFT’s.

Continuing Education Credit:

10 CE Credits

Boston Child Study Center is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Boston Child Study Center maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE Policies & Disclosures

CE Credit Requirements

To receive continuing education credit for this program, participants must attend the program in its entirety and complete the required program evaluation. Partial credit will not be awarded.

Each participant is responsible for determining whether this program meets the continuing education requirements established by their individual licensing board or regulatory agency.

American Psychological Association
Boston Child Study Center is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Boston Child Study Center maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Participants who meet attendance requirements will receive a link to complete the program evaluation following the event. Continuing education certificates will be issued electronically upon completion of the required evaluation.

Registration Fee: $500

Cancellation: If Boston Child Study Center cancels or reschedules this program, registered participants will be notified using the email address provided during registration.

If you are no longer able to attend, we ask that you cancel your registration so that we can maintain accurate attendance records.

There is no known commercial support for this program.

Boston Child Study Center is committed to providing accessible continuing education programs. Participants who require accommodations to participate in a program may contact Beth Jerskey (bjerskey@bostonchildstudycenter.com) with their request. Please submit accommodation requests as early as possible to allow adequate time for arrangements.

The Boston Child Study Center (BCSC) is fully committed to conducting all activities in strict conformance with the American Psychological Association’s Ethical Principles of Psychologists. The BCSC will comply with all legal and ethical responsibilities to be non-discriminatory in promotional activities, program content and in the treatment of program participants. The monitoring and assessment of compliance with these standards will be the responsibility of Dr. Beth Jerskey in consultation with the members of the continuing education committee.

While the BCSC goes to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems, there will be occasional issues that come to the attention of the convention staff which require intervention and/or action on the part of the convention staff or an officer of the BCSC. This procedural description serves as a guideline for handling such grievances.

If you wish to file a grievance, please note that the following actions will be taken:

1. If the grievance concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, please put your comments in written format and provide them to Dr. Jerskey. Dr. Jerskey will then pass on the comments to the speaker, assuring your confidentiality.

2. If the grievance concerns a workshop offering, its content, level of presentation, or the facilities in which the workshop was offered, the convention chair will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If you request action, Dr. Jerskey will:

a. attempt to move you to another workshop, or
b. provide a credit for a subsequent year’s workshop, or
c. provide a partial or full refund of the workshop fee.

Actions 2b and 2c will require a written note, documenting the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by you.

3. If the grievance concerns the BCSC CE program, in a specific regard, Dr. Jerskey will attempt to arbitrate.

To contact Dr. Jerskey or other members of the Continuing Education Committee, please call (617) 800-9610.
Correspondence can be sent to Dr. Beth Jerskey, 729 Boylston Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, Massachusetts, 02116.

Virtual programs are delivered live via Zoom. Participants are responsible for having a reliable internet connection and a device capable of accessing Zoom. We recommend using the most recent version of Zoom and joining several minutes before the scheduled start time.

Attendance is monitored electronically. Participants must attend the live program for the required duration to receive continuing education credit.

By joining this event, you agree to Zoom’s Event Participant Terms of Use, Privacy Statement, and Terms of Service.

For questions about continuing education, registration, or this program, please contact the BCSC Continuing Education Team at ce@bostonchildstudycenter.com.