About The Decider
Michelle
Ayres
and Carol Vivyan are Guernsey-based Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists.
In 2010, they developed The Decider out of their own clinical practice. Both
mental health nurses and Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapists, they were
tasked in 2010 with introducing a CBT/DBT skills group in response to
service need in Guernsey. The Decider developed as a result of that initial
pilot group.We asked those very experienced service users for their feedback: what they wanted from the skills group, what helped and what didn't, what they wanted and what they didn't want. The client and clinician feedback from that and subsequent groups have been overwhelmingly positive.
Eventually, we put each memorable and effective skill down on paper and produced The Decider: A Skills Manual.
The Decider Skills are based on Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for which there is a wealth of evidence to support their efficacy at treating mental health problems.
In order to make the skills more memorable and therefore more effective, we have simplified each skill, added a visual prompt, and teach the skill in a fun and engaging style, including demonstrations and music.
The emphasis is on helping clients to deal with impulsive behaviours such as self harm, avoidance, withdrawal and isolation, aggression, substance misuse and binge eating. These behaviours are often associated with anxiety, depression, anger, addictions, eating disorders and personality disorders and can have devastating consequences. The Decider summarises thirty-two cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT) informed skills under four core skill sets; the acceptance skills of distress tolerance and mindfulness and the change skills of emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. The manual provides a client handout and a detailed explanation for the clinician for each skill. The Decider has the potential to be adapted for a range of service settings; adult mental health, child and adolescent, learning disability, substance misuse, prisons. More about The Decider: A Skills Manual
More about The Decider Life Skills
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NEWS ARTICLES
Guernsey Press 2016 (ICCI Award)
Guernsey Press 2016 (Ladies College)
British Journal of Nursing Awards 2015
Guernsey Press 2015 (BJN Award)