Parenting Seminars are currently on hold
Powerful Parenting
Skills Workshops for Parents
How Can These Seminars Help Me?
As parents, all of us have experienced times where we know or wished when looking back, that we could have behaved more skillfully. It’s really hard to be ‘our best parent selves’, the parent we would most like to be, when we are feeling intense emotions like anger, shame, fear and/ or sadness. And REALLY really hard when we’re trying to stay upright while we surf some emotional tsunamis made up of all of these emotions. When we’re fighting for what feels like survival, our relationships are easily impacted by negative loops that can involve blame, criticism, protest, demands, self-blame, escape, appeasing & defensiveness. This parenting skills seminar series aims to provide you with some of the essential Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) skills to help you regulate your own emotions more effectively, and more effectively support your child or teen to co-regulate alongside you, so that you can both feel heard, seen and accepted, and constructively problem solve.
These Parenting Seminars are based on DBT Family Skills (©John Mader) and have two overarching goals:
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To reduce emotional suffering
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To create a family life worth living
For more information on what DBT is, check out this helpful video: What is DBT?
Seminar Content
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf."
- Jon Kabat-Zinn
What is the Content for the Seminar Series?
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Parenting Seminar 1 : Core Mindfulness for Increasing Family Balance and Effectiveness, Dialectical Parenting and Family Functioning, Understanding Emotional Vulnerability, Core Assumptions in Family Skills
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Parenting Seminar 2 : Interpersonal Effectiveness & the Benefits of Validating: The dialectic of kindness and honesty in a sea of validation
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Parenting Seminar 3 : Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance (how to NOT make things worse).
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Parenting Seminar 4 : The ABC’s of managing Relationship Problems: Understanding and Changing Behaviour
*** prerequisite to attend Seminar 4, is that must have attended at least one of the prior 3 sessions)***
Each seminar will cover different core DBT skills from the four DBT modules: Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance.
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Mindfulness: helps you build awareness of what you are feeling & thinking in the moment
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Interpersonal Effectiveness: helps you navigate relationships more effectively and ask for what you need/say no to what you don’t
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Distress tolerance: helps you safely endure intense emotions without making them worse
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Emotion regulation: helps you understand and feel in control of your emotions and reduce emotional suffering
These are psycho-educational seminars and are NOT a substitute for family or parenting therapy. As this is not a therapy group, we instead will be focusing on learning and becoming more skillful as parents & partners.
Seminar Calendar
Powerful Parenting Skills Workshops for Parents
Parent Workshops will be offered on a monthly basis.
Follow this website for announcements about dates!
Next Seminar Dates: Currently on hold!
Parent Seminars
When:Saturdays: 9:30am - 1pm
Who Attends: Parents only
Where: Virtual over Zoom.
Note: Seminars are all virtual over Zoom.
Cost & Insurance
The cost for each seminar is $175. Payment is made before the seminar to secure your space and to confirm attendance the day of the seminar. This program is eligible for coverage through extended healthcare benefits. Digital receipts are
issued after each seminar.
Receipts will be put in the name of either parent based on your preference/benefit allowance. If your family has FNIHB/NIHB/IRS coverage, please reach out to Dr. Bolster directly.
Seminar Leaders
Dr. Joanna Bolster
Dr. Bolster is a Registered Psychologist with her own practice located on the south side of Edmonton. She has been licensed as a Psychologist & has been working with adults as well as youth & families for 25 years. Her training & practice have afforded her opportunities to work in hospitals through to private practice, in front line treatment provision, consultation, teaching & supervision roles. Dr. Bolster has been training and working in DBT for almost 2 decades & is currently pursuing becoming a Linehan Certified DBT Clinician - the highest level of certification within the practice of DBT. She has run skills groups through both hospital & community settings & enjoys working alongside teens & their families as they learn & practice needed skills; building fun, creativity, authenticity & compassion on top of a solid foundation of evidence based practices. Dr Bolster has co-facilitated this specific skills group for teens for four years with more than 60 families having moved through our program.
Dr Lara Ostolosky
Dr. Ostolosky is an Adult Psychiatrist and Medical Director of the Eating Disorders Program (EDP) at the University of Alberta Hospital. She has been working with youth, adults & their families for more than 20 years. Dr Ostolosky currently runs several groups each week through the EDP using DBT, and works with many diverse families as they support their loved one’s care and treatment, through the course of a given work week. She enjoys working with families to make effective and lasting change as they grow and heal; bringing her known style of direct and honest feedback within a foundation of compassion and hope.
Sign Up
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Please complete the form below.
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Send payment via e-transfer to: drjoannabolster1@gmail.com