If you experience difficulties in managing your emotions, in managing your relationships with others effectively or in feeling overwhelmed and as a result you are engaging in self-destructive behaviours then DBT could really help you.
DBT aims to challenge unhelpful patterns of behaviour that you might engage in and help you to develop more effective ways of engaging with yourself and with others.
What is DBT?
DBT is the gold standard treatment for individuals with a diagnosis of Emotionally unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD) also known as Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD).
DBT is based on the concept of dialectics: the idea of opposites and that both can be true. The main dialectic in DBT is Acceptance vs Change. That one has to accept themselves as they are, but also that they need to bring about change. In order to achieve their goals, a synthesis between the two is the aim. This is difficult to achieve but it is possible by learning the DBT skills and putting them into practice.
DBT was developed by Marsha Linehan, initially to treat Borderline Personality Disorder. Research has demonstrated that it is also effective for a wider range of difficulties including suicidal ideation, mood disorders, eating disorders, substance misuse and ADHD.
DBT consists of a skills group, individual therapy and telephone skills coaching.
Individual DBT Sessions:
Individual sessions focus on problem solving your difficulties and on helping you to build a life worth living that is inline with your goals.
DBT Skills Group:
The group sessions teach you the skills that are core to DBT. They are taught in a group so that individuals can learn from one another and be validated by knowing that others experience similar difficulties to themselves. The group takes a psycho-educational format and is fundamentally about learning and applying new skills.
Telephone Coaching:
Telephone Coaching provides a space for individuals to seek help outside of sessions so that skills can be practiced and generalized to other areas.
The DBT Group skills are covered across four modules:
Emotion Regulation
Learning how to name, understand and regulate your emotions. This helps you to recognise the emotions that you are experiencing and to learn new strategies for managing them more effectively. This enables you to become less overwhelmed by your emotions and to adapt your responses to emotions that you may feel more intensely.
Distress Tolerance:
Coping in a crisis, without making things worse. The aim here is to learn to tolerate more difficult and distressing emotions without engaging in destructive behaviours that can have a negative impact on yourself and on your relationships with others. This includes crisis survival strategies as well as strategies that help you to accept your reality. Often we find ourselves fighting against a reality that we cannot change, which actually increases our distress.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Managing relationships more effectively, how to become more assertive and introducing appropriate boundaries in relationships, for example by learning how to say No to others and how to ask for what you need from others effectively.
Mindfulness
Being aware of yourself and your environment in the present moment. This is a core skill in DBT and is weaved throughout the other modules. By becoming more aware of the present moment you become more able to respond to events, your internal state and people around you more effectively.
If you experience difficulties in managing your emotions, or managing your relationships effectively; or are feeling overwhelmed and as a result you are engaging in self-destructive behaviours then the DBT could really help you.
Would you like to know more?
If you would like to know more about DBT or would like to book an assessment, please drop me an email and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
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