DBT
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
WHAT IS DBT?
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, or DBT, is a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and mindfulness practice, and has proven to be effective in helping individuals who are struggling to manage emotions, stress, relationships, and impulsive behavior (i.e. self-injury, suicidality, substance use, eating disorders and risky sexual behavior).
How Does DBT Help?
- Understand and manage emotions
- Handle stress without making impulsive or destructive choices
- Get needs met from other people, while keeping relationships and self-respect
- Focus the mind and be present in the moment
- Balance thinking and understand other perspectives
What is a DBT Session Like?
Individual therapy usually involves weekly one-to-one sessions with a DBT therapist. Each session lasts approximately 45–60 minutes.
The individuals sessions have a hierarchy of goals:
- To help keep you safe by reducing suicidal and self-harming behaviors.
- To reduce behaviors that interfere with therapy.
- To help you reach your goals and improve your quality of life by addressing what's getting in the way. This might be other mental health problems like depression or hearing voices. Or it might be things in your personal life like employment or relationship problems.
- To help you learn new skills to replace unhelpful behaviours and help you achieve your goals.
Your DBT therapist is likely to ask you to fill out diary cards as homework, and bring them to sessions. This is for you to track your emotions and actions, and look for patterns and triggers in your life. You then use this information to decide together what you will work on in each session.