DBT House & Emotional Skills Groups / GRP1140
House Group: A Distress Tolerance Room — Learning Review Circle
Create a menu of accessible soothing, distraction, and connection options with a time to reassess.
20 minutes · 3–12 people · Adults with trained group facilitation
Facilitator PDF · Fillable participant PDF · Open activity / add to session
UNDERSTAND THE IDEA
A skills map is a metaphor, not a test.
The DBT House can organize values, coping, boundaries, emotions, and supports in a visual structure. Participants choose what the rooms mean. Colors, omissions, or placement do not establish a diagnosis, trauma history, or level of safety.
Facilitation lens: Connect one area to a practical skill and let the participant define its meaning. Offer a garden, apartment, or another metaphor if a house does not fit.
Explore the conceptual background · Broad background, not validation of this original exercise.
Try a different interactive experience in the Activity Lab →
Fictional example
Riley chooses quiet music and a brief check-in during a stressful wait.
Open with choice — 3 minutes
Explain the purpose, privacy limits, and the option to observe, use fiction, adapt, or pass. Check access needs and group readiness; do not promise absolute confidentiality.
Meet the fictional case — 4 minutes
Riley chooses quiet music and a brief check-in during a stressful wait. Ask what is known, what is assumed, and what the person in the case wants.
Practice: Guided discussion — 6 minutes
Create a menu of accessible soothing, distraction, and connection options with a time to reassess. Imagine the fictional person tried one part of the task and found the result mixed. Offer quiet reflection before voluntary sharing. Compare what fit, what was unavailable, and what needs revision; no one must disclose a personal setback.
Reflect and compare — 4 minutes
Which option helps without creating another problem? Ask what fits, what does not, and what external conditions or supports affect the options. No personal disclosure is required.
Close and integrate — 3 minutes
Invite an optional observation, support request, or small next step. Passing is welcome. Agree how to revisit questions and seek appropriate help outside the exercise.
Practice output
A learning summary with one thing to retain, revise, or discuss with qualified support.
Scope and adaptation
Use fictional or ordinary examples, consent, accessibility adaptations, and passing. Original educational group facilitation; not a complete treatment protocol. Do not interpret drawings or require personal disclosure. The house is an optional organizing metaphor, not an official standardized DBT instrument, safety assessment, or comprehensive DBT.
Offer reading aloud, typing, drawing, pointing, or observation. Avoid mandatory movement, eye contact, touch, and body focus.
Original AI-assisted educational draft; independent clinical review pending.
Conceptual background
References inform broad principles and do not validate or endorse this original plan.