DBT

dialectical behavioral therapy

…was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan to help people who were so miserable they wanted to be dead. Turns out, the principles she discovered are useful for everyone. Even those who are healthy, successful, and happy can improve their quality of life by practicing the skills of DBT.

Dialectical means that this therapy pulls together aspects that are usually at odds with each other. For example, should a person be led by emotions or by reason? DBT says a wise person has to pay attention to both. Another dialectical idea is that we are all doing the best we can AND we all need to do better.

Four types of skills taught in DBT are: 1) Mindfulness (paying attention to what is going on in and around you right now), 2) Emotional regulation (knowing how you are feeling and making wise choices about what to do with these feelings), 3) Distress tolerance (surviving difficult situations without making things worse), and 4) Interpersonal effectiveness (getting needs met while preserving self-respect and important relationships).

Dr. Julie Brown has developed a 12-week Emotion Regulation training that can be used by groups of people of widely ranging levels of ability. You might like to join such a group or simply learn these skills in individual therapy.