3 Reasons DBT is So Helpful

So many people ask me, what is DBT, and why is it helpful? DBT is dialectical behavioral therapy. It is a modality of treatment that focuses on skills training and creating a life that is worth living. It is most often a combination between individual therapy and skills training that is usually done in a group setting. 

DBT Skills Training in Group Therapy 

To put it very simply, the skills training portion of DBT Therapy can be taught like a class on coping skills. This is why it can easily be done in a group setting. Very often a client will be skeptical to be in a group for therapy. Although there is some support that comes out of being in a skills training group for dialectical behavioral therapy, the majority of it is about learning. If there is sharing taking place, it is more about how the skills have been challenging or it can be an opportunity to share successful skill use outside of the group. Like any other type of therapy, the work that we do in session is just as important as what we do in the real world and how we utilize what we have learned. The four areas of skills training that are focused on are mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. There are concrete skills within each of these four areas that can be worked on and utilized outside of the group.

Individual DBT Therapy Sessions

Individual sessions in DBT therapy are structured in a way where you are able to check in about what has gone well and what hasn't throughout your week, and this can include where there is a breakdown in skills. This way, you are able to determine which areas you need to focus in on in order to create a life worth living. For example, if you are someone that struggles with anxiety, you might be using emotion regulation skills to decrease the intensity of your overall anxiety throughout the week. At the same time you might need distress tolerance skills for when the anxiety that you are experiencing can get you to the place of feeling like you are in a crisis. In theory, over time, you should need less and less of the distress tolerance skills because the emotion regulation skills should help the anxiety from spiking so high in the first place. This is why individual sessions in DBT are so helpful because you can really work together with your therapist to determine what skills you need to hone in on.

Phone Coaching and Consultation Team 

There are two other components of DBT therapy. The first one is for the therapists, and that is a consultation team. This is an opportunity for every clinician on the team to check in about their clients. It allows for a team approach and helps you to get the best care possible.  The other component is Crisis phone coaching. This is something that is discussed with your clinician ahead of time, and it is an added safety component for high risk clients. A crisis that would be appropriate for phone coaching might be an urge to self-harm or Suicidal Thoughts.  Phone coaching is really meant for emergencies and is something that will also lessen over time, as skill use becomes more and more applicable. 

As you can already imagine from what you have learned so far about DBT Therapy, there are many reasons why it can be so helpful. 

Here are the top 3 reasons DBT Therapy is so Helpful: 

1.Group and individual therapy. This one is a no-brainer because you are getting support from a trained professional which is your DBT therapist, and you are also getting support from the group. Being in group therapy can make you feel less alone in the world. In DBT group therapy, you are able to be with other people that might be going through something similar. Even if the situation itself is not the same, you can relate back to one another based on skill use. As you will hear throughout DBT therapy, this combination really helps you to get to the point of feeling like you are creating a life that is worth living.

2. Coping skills. So many of us have gone through life not even knowing what coping skills are. We might do things without even realizing, that help us to get through our day-to-day life. Some of these things work and some of them don't. Some of them are healthy coping skills and some of them are unhealthy coping skills. What DBT does is give you a framework for coping skills. Because it covers all four areas of mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness it allows you to really hone in on the areas that are lacking when it comes to coping skills. Throughout DBT you should be feeling like at any point you can reach into your back pocket into your hypothetical toolbox and pull out a coping skill as needed.

3.Perspective.  The ultimate goal of DBT is a life worth living. If you are approaching therapy with that mindset and you are going through your day-to-day life using skills with that mindset, your perspective starts to shift. We are no longer in survival mode when that is our goal. Or even if we are in survival mode at the beginning, the deeper we get into that perspective of a life worth living, the more we start to move towards a positive outlook. Imagine going from a dark place, this could look like anxiety and depression or this could look like self-harm and Suicidal Thoughts to a place that feels lighter, calmer, happier and more fulfilled.

Here at Empowered Wellness mental health counseling, we are here to help. We have two trained DBT clinicians. We are trauma-informed and gay-friendly therapists. Please feel free to reach out to us today for a free 15 minute consultation today to  learn more about DBT therapy. You are not alone and we are here to help!!