Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of psychotherapy that focuses on helping individuals understand and accept their emotions, increase coping skills, manage conflict, and tolerate distress to improve overall psychological functioning.
DBT combines cognitive behavioral therapy with mindful awareness practices to help people learn and practice skills to manage emotions and tolerate distress. It helps them objectively assess situations and make better choices at the moment to avoid impulsive decision-making.
DBT emphasizes acceptance, understanding, and the importance of balancing change and accepting the reality of a situation. It encourages individuals to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, allowing them to take full responsibility for their actions.
DBT uses individual and group sessions to provide structure, guidance, and practical strategies for behavior change. It encourages positive reinforcement and provides tools for individuals to work on their skills with personalized instruction.
DBT emphasizes the importance of carefully tracking progress and identifying areas of difficulty as quickly as possible. Through monitoring progress, individuals can be better prepared to confront the challenges and prevent further mental health deterioration.
DBT focuses on building a broad therapeutic alliance with its clients, addressing immediate and long-term goals, and identifying patterns of negative behaviors. It addresses core problems such as emotional regulation, assertiveness, interpersonal relationships, and distress tolerance.
DBT incorporates spiritual practices such as meditation and mindfulness to help individuals more deeply understand their emotions, cultivate acceptance and compassion, and learn how to regulate difficult emotions.
Through DBT, individuals learn to practice healthy lifestyle changes to improve their mental health. The program's key components are building habits like mindful eating, physical exercise, and sleep schedule.
DBT has been proven effective in treating individuals with emotional disorders, including Borderline Personality Disorder and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It also addresses mental health issues such as self-harm, anxiety, and depression.
Besides being highly effective at treating emotional disorders, DBT has been proven to reduce mental health symptoms, increase feelings of well-being, and improve overall functioning in all areas of life.
DBT is an evidence-based practice used not only for individuals but also couples and families. By incorporating data-driven activities and individualized approaches, DBT helps clients reach their desired goals through a safe, structured environment.
