Another addition to our series “Understanding Counselling”, one of our Psychologists, Krisztina, gives us a high level understanding of, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Just one of the many tools in our team’s toolbox.
Understanding Counselling: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Krisztina Kelemen, MA, Registered Provisional Psychologist
Are you someone who
- wants to live in the moment instead of constantly worrying about the past and future,
- wants to be able to regulate emotions effectively,
- wants to learn practical ways to manage stress and crisis situations,
- wants to improve your interpersonal relationships and overall, just simply wants to build a life worth living?
If this sounds appealing to you and you are committed to making positive changes in your life, then Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) may just be the right type of therapy for you. Although DBT was originally developed to help people who struggle with suicidal and self-harming behaviors, it has quickly been proved that this type of therapy can be used very effectively to treat all sorts of issues such as trauma, self-esteem and relationship issues and even helpful for people living with various personality disorders.
DBT is based on CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), however, DBT focuses on emotions rather than thoughts and is fully behaviorally focused as opposed to CBT. You may be able to bring some examples from your own life when you were unable to control intense, negative emotions in a healthy way. DBT can teach you specific skills to help you respond to the world around you in a much healthier way which will make you feel more confident and competent.
There are 4 different skillset DBT is focusing on:
- Mindfulness skills: learn how to focus on the present moment without judgement and without attaching to the moment. If you are mindful, you don’t just react without thinking, but take some time before you react.
- Distress Tolerance skills: learn how to get through crisis situations through accepting reality and without making things worse.
- Emotion Regulation skills: learn to recognize, understand, and have more control over your emotions and to change unwanted emotions.
- Interpersonal effectiveness skills: learn to build and maintain better relationships and increase self-respect in relationships. This include learning how to be more assertive and how to set boundaries with others.
Remember that you can’t control the winds, but you can control the sails. Learning and practising DBT skills can help you accept the stormy winds and control your sails so you can live a life worth living.
Reach out to us today to find the right therapist who can guide you to become a skillful sailor of your life.