Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

[sweetooth]

Has anyone had experience with DBT? If so, could you please tell me about it, especially if it has helped you. I am interested in learning more about it as I am looking for new ways to improve my mood regulation...Thanks.

[jengh]

I haven't tried it personally, but my dad is a mental health professional and his offices highly recommend it. Basically, it retrains the mind and the way you think. It's proven to be extremely effective. DBT is a type of therapy that helps to regulate emotions and self-awareness. It helps to raise your distress tolerance and practices Buddhist meditative process. It's basically cut down into four different modules, or components. 1) Mindfulness and paying attention to what's going on now, living in the moment. 2) Interpersonal effectiveness, which helps cope with interpersonal conflict and asking for what the patient needs. 3) Emotional regulation, which as the name states, helps to regulate emotions by reducing vulnerability and applying distress tolerance techniques. 4) Distress tolerance, which helps to decrease stressful circumstances. The patient will learn crisis "survival skills" and will learn to deal with emotional responses that overwhelm them. You will learn skills to weigh pros and cons, as well as self-soothing techniques.

 

My dad recommends "The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook" by Matthew McKay, Jeffrey C Wood, and Jeffrey Brantley. I actually have a copy of it and I just grabbed it off my shelf to check it out. It looks like a really good tool.

[Seraphim]

That sounds really cool.....something I could use,,thanks Jenn.

[sweetooth]

Thanks Jengh for the information. I learned a little bit about it in class and it seems very beneficial. I just went to amazon and picked up that book, as well as another skills book by Marsha and third book that relates to intimate relationships. I look forward to reading them. I do have a counseling appointment this week and maybe I could ask the therapist about it.

[jengh]

Glad you picked up the book!!! I haven't done any work in it yet but it looks amazing. He recommends it to all his clients so it must be good. I like it because it's "interactive"

 

Happy to help! Any other questions, feel free to ask. If I can't answer it, I'll ask my dad.