Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) offers comprehensive skills to manage intense emotions and decrease relationship conflict. This modality focuses on 4 specific areas of therapeutic skills.
These are:
- Mindfulness
- Mindfulness teaches individuals to be present in the current moment.
- Distress tolerance
- Distress tolerance helps individuals to cope with negative emotions in an adaptive manner.
- Emotion regulation
- Emotion regulation offers strategies to manage intense emotions on a day-to-day basis.
- Interpersonal effectiveness
- These techniques help individuals to communicate with others in a confident, assertive way that maintains self-respect and strengthens relationships.
How does this treatment work?
Many of us live our daily lives with a constant stream of uncontrollable negative emotions that are sometimes outside of our awareness. These emotions affect how we feel about ourselves and how we interact with other people, including friends, romantic partners, and family members.
In DBT, the client works with the clinician to build skills aimed at managing negative emotions so they can feel balanced, in control, and able to interact respectfully and successfully with others.
When is DBT Used and What Can You Expect?
Dialectical behavioral therapy was initially developed to treat individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Research has since shown that DBT can successfully treat people with depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, eating disorders, and substance abuse. Our clinicians use an adapted DBT protocol to help clients manage emotional distress in their day-to-day lives.