What Is DBT?
What’s with all the abbreviations and acronyms?! I know, we have a lot of those in the psych world! Today we’re talking about another one of those acronym therapies, DBT. DBT stands for Dialectical Behavior Therapy and was created by Marsha Linehan back in the 1980s. After studying its treatment effectiveness in the 1970s and 80s, its first publication dropped in 1994 which allowed DBT to spread across the globe.
DBT is rooted in cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT, another acronym!) and was designed to support individuals whose intense emotions lead to ineffective behaviors and actions. Originally created to treat folks living with borderline personality disorder, it has been shown in over 40 years of research to be beneficial for many types of mental health concerns including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, substance use, and others. In fact, Division 12 (Society for Clinical Psychology) of the American Psychological Association designates DBT as having “strong strength of research support” for its treatment effectiveness.
So What Is It Exactly?
DBT is a talk therapy designed to help you learn how to manage your emotions and distress in the hopes of reducing your engagement in ineffective behaviors. Ever screamed at someone out of anger? Or how about ate a gallon of ice cream because you felt stressed out? Or have you ever engaged in intentionally harming yourself as a way to distract from or cope with feeling overwhelmed? DBT aims to support you so you can engage in more values-oriented behaviors to create the life that you want to be present in, even when experiencing uncomfortable emotions.
DBT is rooted in the concept of “dialectics,” or the bringing together of two seemingly opposite things. One of the core dialectics of DBT is acceptance and change. This dialectic is seen in DBT’s efforts to help you learn methods of accepting and enduring difficult situations and emotions, as well as make effective, helpful behavioral changes where you can.
At its core, DBT teaches coping skills to create new behaviors and change your relationship with your emotions and unhelpful thoughts. These coping skills are categorized into four different modules:
Mindfulness – Goal: to increase self-awareness and pattern recognition in the hopes of learning more about how you operate in the world, react to different circumstances, and notice what your mind is focused on in any given moment.
Distress Tolerance - Goal: to learn to manage and live with intense emotions and avoid reacting impulsively when distress is heightened
Emotion Regulation - Goal: to notice, navigate, and pro-actively manage feelings to reduce vulnerability to intense emotions and stress and increase positive experiences
Interpersonal Effectiveness – Goal: to build and maintain self-respect in your relationships, learn to build and maintain healthy relationships with others, and acquire abilities to practice assertiveness and boundary setting to make your needs known to others
When participating in DBT, you may be recommended to join a DBT skills group and see a DBT individual therapist. The weekly skills group is designed for you to learn the coping skills in a regular, consistent manner in a group setting. The group is characterized by the facilitator teaching different skills; there is generally not a process or support group component to DBT.
In addition to group, you may participate in individual therapy as well, in which you and a DBT therapist will hone in on how to specifically apply DBT skills to improve the quality of your life. Some therapists may offer telephone coaching as well, in which you can call your therapist between sessions to discuss skills that may help to avert crises (such as engaging in self-harm) or manage a stressful moment.
If you would like learn more about DBT and how to apply the skills to your life, be sure to give CPGR a call today to set up an appointment!
