🌿 Discover the Power of DBT Skills and Art Therapy: A Four-Part Introductory Workshop Series

We’re excited to announce an upcoming introductory workshop series that blends the strength of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills with the creativity of art experientials. This unique, hands-on learning opportunity offers a “bottom-up” approach—allowing participants to truly embody and integrate wellness practices through both knowledge and creative exploration.

Whether you’re seeking personal transformation or professional growth, this four-part series is designed to meet you where you are. You can register for one, a few, or all four workshops—no prerequisites required.

✨ Workshop Series Overview

Each part of the series is four weeks long and offered online via Zoom. Participants will explore DBT theory through interactive discussion, receive handouts for between-class integration, and spend at least 45 minutes each session engaging in art-based reflection and practice:

• Part One: Core Mindfulness
  October 7 – October 28, 2025
  Lay the groundwork: cultivating awareness, presence, and acceptance as the foundation of meaningful living.

• Part Two: Interpersonal Effectiveness
  November 18 – December 9, 2025
  Strengthen relational awareness, balance your needs and others’ needs, and practice assertive connection and conflict resolution.

• Part Three: Distress Tolerance
  January 13 – February 3, 2026
  Cultivate skills for weathering emotional pain and crisis without making the situation worse—leaning into resilience and groundedness.

• Part Four: Emotion Regulation
  February 24 – March 17, 2026
  Increase your ability to understand, modulate, and respond to emotions healthily—growing emotional flexibility and intelligence.

All sessions take place 5:30–7:30 PM Pacific Time, four consecutive weeks per module.

🎓 Academic & Professional Opportunities

• This series offers 30 hours of admission credit toward enrollment in the KATI diploma program (online hybrid format).

• A certificate of completion will be provided to participants who attend all sessions in the modules they register for.

• Fee: $495/workshop (CAD)

• Discount: 10% off for registering for all four modules before the start of Part One.

• Reserved Seats: One seat per workshop is reserved (at 50% of the fee) for a BIPOC registrant planning to join the KATI diploma program (who has begun the application process).

🌍 Who Should Attend?

This workshop is ideal for people who:

• Want to bolster their personal wellness, resilience, and self-understanding.

• Work or study in mental health, social services, counseling, or related fields and want to expand their toolkit.

• Are curious about combining DBT with art-based experientials to deepen therapeutic practice.

Note: This series is not a certification in DBT or art therapy—but it offers strong foundational learning, and a springboard for further training.

🌱 Why This Matters

Many people struggle with emotional and behavioural dysregulation—often due to emotional sensitivity interacting with an invalidating environment. When we lack tools for managing our inner life, relationships, and crises, we may feel stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected.

By integrating DBT’s evidence-based skills (mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation) with creative and embodied art practices, participants:

• Develop pragmatic, strength-based tools for emotional balance

• Expand self-awareness, self-compassion, and emotional intelligence

• Walk away with artifacts (sketches, collage, painting, etc.) that continue to generate insight and healing

• Approach healing through a trauma-informed, compassionate lens, while honouring participants’ spiritual, cultural, and personal identities

🖌️ What to Bring

• A journal

• Art supplies of your choice (a suggested materials list—emphasizing low-cost, recycled, or up-cycled materials—will be shared one week before each module)

👩‍🏫 About the Facilitator

Nikki Featherstone (BAACS, DKATI, RCAT #248-R-19) brings a rich and multifaceted background in art therapy, counseling, spiritual guidance, and creative healing.

From her practice Haven ~ Nourish Your Spirit, Nikki offers a safe, sacred space where clients and workshop participants are held in non-judgment, radical acceptance, and deep compassion. ~ Nourish Your Spirit

Here are a few highlights from her work:

• Clinical & Supervisory Roles: She is a Registered Canadian Art Therapist with the Canadian Art Therapy Association (CATA) and a Counselling Therapist with the Association of Counselling Therapy of Alberta. ~ Nourish Your Spirit

• Expanded Modalities: Beyond psychotherapy and art therapy supervision, Nikki offers Soul Coaching, which may include ceremony, ritual support, Reiki, drum work, meditative journeys, and guided spiritual practices. ~ Nourish Your Spirit

• Identity & Inclusion: Nikki openly identifies as a queer woman and works from an anti-oppressive, feminist, spiritually integrated lens. She intentionally holds space for those from intersectional and marginalized identities. ~ Nourish Your Spirit

• Populations Served: While she works broadly with individuals aged 12+, she has a deep connection to working with adolescent girls, women/femme-identified adults, queer/2SLGBTQ+ folks, sex workers, poly/non-monogamous couples/families, and spiritual or minority faith communities. ~ Nourish Your Spirit

• Spiritual Integration & Land Acknowledgement: Nikki weaves spiritual components into her therapeutic approach, welcoming many faith and spiritual traditions. She also acknowledges the treaty lands on which she practices (Treaty 6 territory) and invites reciprocity with Indigenous ancestors and communities. ~ Nourish Your Spirit

📌 Ready to Join?

Spaces are limited. If you sense the call to deepen your emotional resilience, creative expression, and relational capacity, this series is a rich opportunity.