Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) offers individuals comprehensive skills to manage painful memories and emotions and decrease conflicts in their relationships.

Do you feel your mind is being pulled in a hundred different directions at once? Do you have a hard time handling some of your emotions, and does this cause problems in your relationships?

DBT can help. This modality focuses on 4 specific areas of therapeutic skills. These are:

• Mindfulness – Helps individuals be present in the current moment.
• Distress tolerance – Most people try and keep themselves safe from all negative emotions. Distress tolerance is geared toward increasing a person’s tolerance of negative emotions.
• Emotion regulation – Offers strategies to manage intense emotions that are the root cause of problems in a person’s life. 
• Interpersonal effectiveness – These techniques allow an individual to communicate with others in a confident, assertive way that maintains self-respect and strengthens relationships.

How Does it Work Exactly?

Many of us live our daily lives with a constant stream of uncontrollable negative emotions right under our awareness. These emotions affect how we feel about ourselves and how we interact with other people, including friends, romantic partners, and family members.

DBT essentially works with individuals to help them find ways to manage their negative emotions so they can feel balanced, in control, and able to interact respectfully and successfully.

 The 'D' in DBT emphasizes the reality that the world is an interrelated system full of opposites (e.g., we can love someone AND be angry with them simultaneously). DBT works to help folks interact with perceived contradictions in a skillful way.

When is DBT Used and What Can You Expect?

While dialectical behavioral therapy was initially developed to treat those with borderline personality disorder, research has since shown that DBT can successfully treat people with depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, eating disorders, and substance abuse, among other issues.

While Nobile Psychology is not a full DBT program, we do offer DBT-informed individual psychotherapy and DBT skills groups.

Connect with a DBT Therapist Today

If you are interested in exploring DBT therapy, you should look for a therapist with specialized training and experience in DBT strategies. The Linehan Board of Certification is a non-profit organization that has developed certification standards for DBT clinicians. 

If you or someone you know may benefit from dialectic behavioral therapy, please reach out, we are here to help.