This project was inspired by my journey with DBT and my desire to make its effective and practical tools available in Ukrainian. DBT’s skills — mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness — can change everyday life. There was very little DBT material in Ukrainian, so I decided to build a free and accessible resource.
What the course looks like
The course is structured around four core DBT skill modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. There are 52 short lessons across 4 modules. Each lesson includes a video explanation, a practical exercise, and a worksheet.
It’s not academic theory — it’s designed to be applied immediately. You can go through it on your own as a self-help program, or use it alongside therapy sessions as a supplement between appointments.
The key idea behind DBT is the balance between change and acceptance. It grew out of cognitive behavioral therapy but goes further — it doesn’t just help you reframe unhelpful thoughts, it teaches you to sit with difficult emotions and act effectively even when they’re intense.
The response
I announced the project on Threads, expecting a slow start. Within 48 hours, 1,850 people had signed up. That number caught me off guard. It confirmed something I suspected — there’s real demand for accessible, structured mental health resources in Ukrainian.
What’s next
The course is still in active development. Right now, priorities are getting the course materials reviewed by a qualified specialist and figuring out the best way to communicate with everyone who signed up — whether that’s email via Amazon SES or building a PWA with push notifications.
The course is free, and the site site is at dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com.ua.