- Live Interactive Webinar
- FREE; advance registration required
- 12-1 PM (Eastern)
- Wednesday, March 18, 2026
- Held online
- 1 CE Hour
Overview.
Are you feeling stuck using the same exercises to teach DBT skills? This lunch-hour training, conducted online, will provide the rationale for incorporating creative arts into standard Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills modules:
- Mindfulness
- Distress Tolerance
- Emotion Regulation
- Interpersonal Effectiveness
The goal is to provide therapists with creative interventions to diversify their teaching approaches, deepen experiential learning, and enhance client engagement, particularly for individuals who prefer nonverbal-based learning styles.
Learning Objectives
- Participants will explain the rationale for using creative arts within DBT skill training
- Participants will identify 1-3 creative arts interventions that will reinforce skill acquisition within each skill module
- Adapt these techniques for both group and individual therapy settings while maintaining adherent DBT
Instructor Credentials
Hannah Heffner, ATR-BC, LPCC, DBT-LBC, (she/her) is a licensed professional clinical counselor and board-certified art therapist. She is intensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and is a DBT-LBC Certified Clinician™. She has extensive history working with adolescents, young adults and their families who have presenting concerns such as depression, suicidality/self-harm, anxiety, autism, low self-esteem and trauma.
Heffner uses evidence based modalities such as DBT, DBT-PE, CBT, TF-CBT. Heffner is also a Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) provider. SPACE is an evidence-based treatment for parents of children/adolescents/young adults with anxiety disorders. Depending on the client’s goals and preferences, these modalities can be combined with art making interventions to strengthen skills and insight. In addition, she has a passion for working with LGBTQ+ people who are exploring their identities. She holds a post master’s certificate in Affirmative Therapy and values using evidence based approaches such as the AFFIRM model, which focuses on CBT tenets to improve the wellbeing of LGBTQ+ teens and their caregivers.
Heffner enjoys using humor and irreverence in sessions and believes she is forever learning from her clients. She also finds pleasure in getting messy with art and house projects, kayaking, camping and experimenting in the kitchen with her partner.
JAN
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