Do you feel bombarded and distracted by thoughts? Do you have a hard time managing some of your emotions, and does this cause problems in your relationships?

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) offers individuals skills to manage painful memories and emotions and decrease conflicts in relationships. 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 uncomfortable emotions. Distress tolerance is geared toward increasing a person’s tolerance to uncomfortable emotion.
• 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 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 emotions so they can feel balanced, in control and able to interact respectfully and successfully. The message at the heart of DBT is acceptance and change.

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.

If you or someone you know may benefit from dialectic behavioral therapy, please get in touch with me. I would be happy to discuss how I may be able to help.