Virtual · Closed Group · 16 Weeks · Now Forming

Group Schedule

Start Date: Thursday, October 8, 2026
Time: Thursdays at 6:00 PM EST
Format: Virtual, Weekly
Length: 16 Weeks
Session Duration: 1.5 Hours

Download Your 16-Week Schedule Register Now

Why DBT skills alone aren't always enough

You've learned the skills. Maybe you've done the worksheets, read the books, sat in a therapist's office and understood — really understood — what you're supposed to do differently.

And then the moment comes. The emotion floods in. The old pattern runs. The skill disappears.

That is not a failure of willpower or effort. That is what happens when skills work hasn't reached the emotional, somatic, and relational layers underneath.

Théla Foundations is a 16-week online therapeutic group for adults in Ontario that goes there. Built on a DBT foundation and integrated with EFT, IFS, and EMDR nervous system work, this is group therapy designed to address not just what to do — but why it has been so hard.

An integrated approach: DBT, EFT, IFS, and EMDR group therapy

Most DBT group therapy programs stop at skills training. Théla Foundations uses DBT as the scaffold and layers in three additional evidence-based approaches to reach what skills alone cannot.

 

DBT — Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

The proven framework for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness. The structure every session is built around. If you've done DBT before, this will feel familiar — and go significantly further.

EFT — Emotionally Focused Therapy

Skills work best when emotion is accessible, not suppressed or bypassed. EFT helps you move through emotional experience — not around it. This is where real emotional processing happens.

IFS — Internal Family Systems

Understanding which part of you resists the skill, what that part is protecting, and why the pattern keeps returning — even when you know better. IFS replaces self-criticism with genuine curiosity about your inner world.

EMDR & Nervous System Regulation

very session opens and closes with body-based regulation. You will learn to read your window of tolerance, resource effectively, and work with what lives below language and cognition.

Together these four approaches form a complete therapeutic framework:

Skills → Emotion → Parts → Body

That is the full picture. Most group therapy programs offer one layer. This group offers all four.

What to expect in each session

Théla Foundations runs as a 90-minute virtual group, weekly for 16 weeks. Every session follows a consistent structure so your nervous system knows what to expect — safety through predictability is built into the design.
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Open — Nervous System Regulation (15 min)

Grounding and resourcing before anything else. You arrive, settle, and regulate before any skills content or emotional work begins.
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Bridge — IFS Parts Check-In (10 min)

What part showed up this week? What internal context are you bringing into today's session? This sets the emotional ground before the core work.
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Core — DBT Skills with EFT and IFS Integration (35–40 min)

The DBT skill is taught and practiced — then deepened. What emotion lives underneath the struggle to use this skill? Which part resists it, and what does that part need? This is where the integration does its most powerful work.
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Close — Integration and Practice (15 min)

Body scan. Settling. Between-session practice set with IFS framing. You leave regulated, not activated.

The 16-Week Therapeutic Arc

Théla Foundations moves through the four core DBT modules — each one deepened through the emotional, parts, and somatic layers.
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Mindfulness

Wise Mind and IFS Self-energy are the same destination approached from two directions. You'll develop the capacity to observe your inner world — parts, emotions, body sensations — from a grounded, curious place. Nervous system work focuses on interoception and body-based present-moment awareness.
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Distress Tolerance

Why does your nervous system reach for what it reaches for? Every DBT distress tolerance skill has a physiological rationale — you'll understand the biology, not just the technique. IFS work explores which part drives crisis behavior and what burden it carries. EFT reaches the unbearable emotion underneath.
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Emotion Regulation

This is where EFT does its deepest work. Emotions are not problems to eliminate — they are parts carrying meaning, history, and unmet needs. You'll learn to approach emotion differently, and DBT's opposite action and check-the-facts skills become far more accessible once you understand what's driving them.
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Interpersonal Effectiveness

Which part runs your relationships? The people-pleasing part, the withdrawing part, the angry protector who comes out when you feel unseen? DEAR MAN, GIVE, and FAST skills land differently once you understand the attachment needs and protective patterns underneath your interpersonal cycles.

The skills were never the problem.

This group reaches what was. Join the interest list today. Intake opens to this list first — before any public announcement.

Is Théla Foundations right for you?

This online DBT group therapy program in Ontario is designed for adults who:

 

  • Have tried skills-based approaches and felt something was missing
  • Know what to do but cannot access it when emotion is high
  • Carry trauma, attachment wounds, or emotional intensity that hasn't fully shifted in individual therapy
  • Want to understand themselves — not just manage themselves
  • Are ready to do meaningful clinical work in a small, contained group setting

This program is a strong fit for adults navigating emotional dysregulation, complex trauma, anxiety, burnout, relationship patterns, grief, and identity struggles.

This group is not suited for those currently in acute psychiatric crisis or requiring intensive individual support as a primary treatment. A screened intake conversation is required for all participants prior to enrollment.

 

 

Your facilitator

Bonny, MA | Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying), Clinical Director, Théla Psychotherapy Clinic, Markham Ontario

Bonny brings advanced clinical training across every modality integrated in this program — EMDR, IFS, EFT, DBT, Gottman Levels 1 & 2, and trauma-informed practice — alongside specialized credentials in ADHD, autism spectrum presentations, and complex trauma. She is registered with CRPO (#18875), OAMHP, and CCPA, and teaches at George Brown College.

Her clinical work centers adults navigating trauma, identity, grief, emotional dysregulation, relationship disruption, and the layered experience of immigrant and newcomer life. She is warm, direct, and deeply relational in her facilitation style.

She does not run groups that stay on the surface.

MA Counselling Psychology · RP(Qualifying) CRPO #18875 · CCTP · EMDRIA-Trained · ADHD-CCSP · ASDCS · IFS · DBT · EFT · Gottman Levels 1 & 2

Program Details

   
Format Virtual, closed group — Ontario-wide
Length 16 weeks
Session length 90 minutes, weekly
Group size 6–8 participants maximum
Workbook Théla branded workbook included
Intake Screened — required for all participants
Location Online — available across Ontario

Program Investment

Fee tier Per session Full program
Full fee $90–110 $1,440–$1,760
Reduced fee $65 $1,040
Access fee $45 $720

Receipts are issued under Bonny's CRPO registration and are eligible for submission to extended health benefit plans that cover Registered Psychotherapy services. We recommend confirming your coverage with your benefits provider prior to enrollment.

A limited number of sliding scale spots are available per cohort. Please indicate your need during the intake conversation — not on this form.

How to join

Participation in the Théla Foundations Group is determined through a registration and screening process to support group fit, safety, and readiness. Submission of the registration form does not guarantee acceptance into the group.

After your registration form is reviewed, you may be contacted for a brief consultation or intake conversation to determine whether the group is an appropriate fit for your current needs and goals.

Group placement is based on clinical appropriateness, group composition, and available space — not first come, first served.

There is no obligation or commitment at the registration stage. The screening process is intended to help ensure the group is supportive and beneficial for both you and the overall cohort.

Complete Registration Form Now

Frequently asked questions about DBT group therapy in Ontario

A standard DBT group teaches skills and sends you home. Théla Foundations uses DBT as its clinical foundation and integrates EFT emotional processing, IFS parts work, and EMDR nervous system regulation — so you understand not just what to do, but why it has been hard, and what your body and emotional system need to get there. If you want a pure skills program, this is not it. If you want to understand why the skills haven't stuck, this is exactly it.

It is strongly recommended and in most cases expected. If you are not currently working with an individual therapist, we will discuss this during the intake conversation and can support you in finding one — including at Théla Psychotherapy Clinic if appropriate.

Yes. The program is trauma-informed throughout and designed to welcome adults with trauma histories. Every session opens with nervous system regulation and resourcing before any emotional or parts work begins. Active trauma crisis is not appropriate for this group — complex trauma history is welcome.

Once you join the interest list, you will receive an intake questionnaire followed by a brief phone or video conversation with Bonny to assess fit. There is no charge for the intake process.

Receipts are issued for registered psychotherapy services under Bonny's CRPO registration. Coverage varies by extended health plan — most plans that cover registered psychotherapy will apply. We recommend confirming directly with your benefits provider.

Yes — a limited number of reduced and access fee spots are available per cohort. Please raise this during your intake conversation. There is no judgment and no application process beyond that conversation.

Yes. Théla Foundations runs fully virtually and is available to adults across Ontario — including Toronto, the GTA, Ottawa, Hamilton, and beyond.

6–8 per cohort, maximum. The group is intentionally small to allow for depth, safety, and genuine connection between participants.