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Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) teaches patients new ways to deal with upsetting feelings and lessen conflict in interpersonal relationships. DBT specialises in teaching therapeutic skills in four important areas, namely mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a variety of talk therapy (psychotherapy). In the 1970s, American psychologist Marsha Linehan led to the development of dialectical behaviour therapy.
This therapy is based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), but it has been modified especially for those who have extremely strong emotional experiences. However, using talk therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy teaches patients how their beliefs influence their feelings and behaviours.
On the other hand, dialectical refers to combining opposing viewpoints. Also, DBT focuses on assisting patients in learning to improve their lives, including eliminating unhelpful behaviours, as well as accepting the truth of their lives and actions.
Individuals who need DBT are frequently diagnosed with numerous issues. Regardless, in DBT, a hierarchy of treatment goals is used to assist the therapist in deciding what issues should be addressed first. So, you should consider a DBT if you have:
Dialectical behaviour therapy can have a somewhat different format depending on the therapist, but in general, DBT sessions fall into one of the following four categories:
Your therapist could offer an assessment before beginning DBT. After that, they will ascertain whether DBT is a good fit for you through questions and an explanation of how DBT functions. They will also ask you to commit to the course of treatment if you decide that DBT is the best therapy for you.
In the case of individual DBT therapy, each week, you and your therapist will meet, and every session might last between 40 and 60 minutes. The aims of each individual DBT therapy session are as follows:
Furthermore, your therapist might also advise keeping a diary in order to monitor your feelings and activities and to look for patterns of behaviour.
In case you prefer a social environment, you can learn skills in a group setting with your therapist. However, it is important to note that, in group therapy, you can also talk about your issues with others. So, consider it more along the lines of a classroom-style teaching and learning experience.
DBT frequently uses telephone crisis coaching to assist you in your quotidian activities. This implies that you can call your therapist for support at specific times in between sessions.
Nevertheless, here are several situations when you might want to give your therapist a call:
Some of the techniques of dialectical behaviour therapy include:
Mindfulness
The improvement of mindfulness is a significant aspect of DBT. This is because it allows you to live in the moment or focus on the present. Additionally, mindfulness assists you in developing non-judgmental awareness of both what is going on inside of you (your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and impulses) and what is happening outside of you (what you see, hear, smell, and touch).
For instance, when you are experiencing emotional distress, mindfulness can help you slow down and concentrate on employing appropriate coping mechanisms. The technique can also assist you in maintaining your composure and preventing impulsive conduct and automatic negative thought patterns.
Distress Tolerance
Distress tolerance enhances your ability to tolerate stress and helps you accept both yourself and your circumstances. Additionally, DBT offers a number of crisis management methods, such as:
These techniques for coping with distress can help you prepare for strong emotions. They will provide you with the strength you need to deal with them in a beneficial way.
Emotion Regulation
This factor is important as you can deal with intense emotions more successfully if you have good emotion control. Also, your ability to recognise and control your emotions will be enhanced by the abilities you acquire from learning emotion regulation.
Additionally, you will be able to detect and manage strong negative emotions, and your emotional susceptibility will decrease if you are able to experience more pleasant feelings.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Interpersonal effectiveness increases your ability to articulate your demands and say "no" in a relationship while maintaining a nice, healthy connection. Besides this, you will be able to respect yourself and others, listen and communicate more effectively, and handle unfriendly people better.
Although Dialectical Behaviour Therapy was developed by keeping borderline personality disorder in mind, it can also help with:
Dialectical behaviour therapy teaches you to identify the behaviours and patterns that prevent you from pursuing happiness in ways other than substance addiction. Nevertheless, the following are additional advantages of dialectical behaviour therapy:
People who successfully enhance their coping abilities with the use of this therapeutic approach can create efficient means of controlling and expressing intense emotions. Additionally, DBT is also effective for people of any age, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, or race/ethnicity.
For Borderline Personality Disorder
DBT is beneficial in treating Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and lowering the risk of suicide. According to a research paper, more than 75% of BPD patients did not show symptoms of the illness after receiving this treatment for a year.
For Suicidal Behaviour
A study proved that therapies that included skill-building as a treatment seemed to be more successful in lowering suicidal tendencies than DBT without skill-building.
Others
Although the majority of DBT research has concentrated on how well it works for persons with borderline personality disorder with suicidal and self-harming thoughts, it is also useful for treating other mental health issues. For instance, studies have shown that this therapy also appears to be successful in treating PTSD, depression, and anxiety.
The best approach to determine if DBT is the proper treatment for you is to speak with a certified practitioner. In this regard, they will examine your symptoms, treatment trajectory, and therapy objectives.
If you believe that you or a loved one would benefit from the treatment, you should speak with a healthcare physician or mental health expert who is knowledgeable about DBT. Nevertheless, it's not always simple to locate DBT therapists, and you can begin by doing some online research.
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) typically lasts six to twelve months. However, everyone is different, and a few external factors can complicate mental health issues. So, after one year of DBT, you should not expect to be completely free of symptoms or have no problematic behaviours.
Also, many therapists believe that treating borderline personality disorder can take years.
Hence, try not to be discouraged by the duration to improve your emotional management and overall quality of life. Here, the primary thing is that you are seeking assistance, and any progress is beneficial.
Consider the following points while opting for this therapy:
Hence, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) aims to teach clients’ problem-solving techniques. This therapy assists them in recognising extreme or maladaptive behaviours and replacing them with more beneficial and effective ones.