Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DTB) combines cognitive behavioral techniques with mindful awareness, and teaches skills for emotion regulation and distress tolerance.
DBT will help you manage overwhelming negative emotions by teaching you skills such as Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance. Its main focus is managing negative thoughts, impulsive behaviors, mood swings and unstable relationships.
Individual DBT treatment emphasizes problem-solving behavior for issues that have occurred over the past week. Self-injurious and suicidal behaviors take priority, followed by behaviors that may interfere with the therapy process. Another main focus of DBT treatment is the improvement of quality of life, decreasing and dealing with responses to previous trauma, and helping enhance the client’s self-respect and self-image.
DBT group treatment focuses on learning skills and encourages mindfulness practices and meditation exercises such as breathing, muscle relaxation, imagery and other helpful skills that can be used outside the treatment room. The majority of group is spent on skills training. I also assign homework, which enables participants to practice these skills on their own and discuss their effectiveness during group.
