Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that focuses on transforming negative thinking patterns and destructive behaviors into positive outcomes.
The goals of DBT include:
- Living in the present moment
- Focusing on acceptance and change
- Tolerating life’s circumstances
- Regulating one’s emotions
- Developing positive coping strategies
- Replacing unhelpful thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors with more effective ones
- Improving relationships
Core DBT Strategies
Mindfulness: Mindfulness promotes living in the present moment. You will learn how to pay attention to what’s going on inside of you while also tuning into your senses and what’s happening around you. Mindfulness skills can help you slow down so you can stay calm and focus on using healthy coping skills when experiencing difficult emotions rather than reverting back to negative thought patterns and impulsive behaviors.
Distress Tolerance: Distress Tolerance skills allow you to accept yourself and your current situation. These skills also include effective techniques, such as distraction, self-soothing, and improving the moment without making it worse, to handle a crisis. This skill set prepares you to deal with big, intense emotions and empowers you to cope with them through a more positive, big picture perspective.
Interpersonal Effectiveness: Interpersonal effectiveness teaches effective communication skills that enable you to become more positively assertive, to find your “yes” and your “no,” and to effectively set boundaries while also being able to maintain relationships in a healthy way. You will learn how to respect yourself while also respecting others.
Emotional Regulation: Emotional regulation allows you to effectively navigate powerful feelings. You will learn to identify, shift, and cope with unwanted negative emotions, reduce your emotional vulnerability, and have more positive emotional experiences and outcomes.
DBT helps people separate themselves from their thoughts and moods and builds skills to achieve a greater balance in life. If you would like to learn more about DBT reach out here.