About DBT
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a highly structured, evidenced based treatment created by Dr. Marsha Linehan (pictured) used to help those who struggle to manage intense emotions, impulsivity/reactivity, attention deficits, an unstable sense of self, instability in relationships, and chronic feelings of emptiness. DBT commonly treats personality disorders, PTSD, depression, anxiety, substance use disorders, and eating disorders.
DBT Core Modules
DBT provides practical skills in the following areas to create lasting change.
Mindfulness
This module teaches ways to pay attention to your thoughts, emotions, and sensations without judgment. Taken from Zen Buddhism, mindfulness is a key foundational component of DBT. Helps to focus fully on participating in your life rather than acting on autopilot.
Distress Tolerance
This module teaches how to survive intense emotions without making things worse and ways to accept with your whole self. This will help decrease the need to impulsively act on urges and help you ride out the discomfort until your emotion naturally decreases.
Emotion Regulation
This module teaches how to name, understand, and change emotions, while also decreasing vulnerability in the future. The goal isn't to eliminate unwanted emotions but to decrease vulnerability, reduce suffering, and change the intensity and frequency of unwanted emotions over time.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
This module teaches how to start and navigate relationships, get your needs met, and maintain self-respect. Whether you're wanting to start new relationships or trying to better your current relationships, this module helps increase effective communication skills and goes in depth about how to create behavioral change.
Prolonged Exposure
Stage 2 of DBT is considered trauma treatment. Prolonged exposure is a highly effective protocol to decrease PTSD related symptoms or traumatic invalidation by using in vivo exposure, imaginal exposure, and reprocessing. 65% of individuals that go through DBT PE have a complete remission of PTSD symptoms.
DBT Next Steps
Stage 3 of DBT works to improve executive dysfunction after clients have moved beyond crisis behaviors. Next Steps is a different set of skills modules that include perfectionism vs. reinforcement, establishing and re-evaluating relationships, time management, continued emotion management, applications of mindfulness, and succeeding after DBT
Acceptance. Change. Skills for Life.
Hope starts with skills. Sign up for a FREE consultation to see if DBT could be effective for you!