What is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy {DBT}?
Dialectical behavioral therapy in New York to help you ride big emotions.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a therapeutic approach that was developed to help people with deep emotional distress who were not getting better with traditional talk therapies, psychoanalysis or cognitive behavioral therapy.
When your parents did a good job, but you still felt misunderstood- that is called an invaliding environment.
No one is at fault, but now it’s time to learn a better way to interact with yourself, others and the world.
When someone is born highly emotional and they are raised in a family environment that is invalidating and fuels the sensitivity, they are often left feeling misunderstood, and tend to develop ineffective coping skills and distorted beliefs. DBT is founded on the understanding that some people are naturally more prone to intense emotions, which can make the workplace, romantic relationships, certain family environments and navigating friendships more difficult.
DBT can helps you change the way you relate to your thoughts and behaviors so you improve your quality of life
Through the DBT process of recovery, clients learn to examine the deeper meaning of their lives, set goals for themselves, incorporate enjoyable activities into their routines, and be more mindful of their roadblocks. The therapist’s role is to empathize, encourage self-compassion and mindfulness throughout the recovery journey.
Although there are not technically numbered steps in the DBT process, in the effort to be methodical, and for the sake of effectiveness we have numbered the stages in a way that would simulate a natural progression in using the modality effectively.
Step 1 - Acceptance and change: This is a big part of DBT, and the first step towards successful growth. The techniques can only flourish when a client accepts that change is required, becomes comfortable with the idea of therapy, forms a trusting relationship with the therapist, and can learn to approach situations, both positive and negative, without judgment.
DBT has five specific stages of acceptance and change;
Precontemplation is the first stage, in which the client is totally unaware of their problems
Contemplation is the second stage, in which the client realizes and accepts the reality of their illness or scope of their challenges
Preparation is the stage in which the client is likely to take action and make plans that will help charge ahead into the growth process
Action is when the client is receptive to treatment and will work with the therapist to make meaningful changes
Maintenance is an extremely important stage in order to prevent a relapse
After grasping acceptance and change, a patient can fully advance to mindfulness techniques.
Step 2 - Mindfulness: This is considered the foundation for all the other skills taught in DBT because it helps individuals accept and tolerate the powerful emotions that come up when they begin to actively challenge themselves. Clients develop the capacity to pay attention to the present moment, without judgement, and experience emotions and senses fully, yet with perspective. Grounding exercises allow for a deeper awareness of the 5 senses; touch, smell, sight, taste, and sound.
Step 3 - Distress Tolerance: These skills are a natural development once mindfulness skills are acquired. It is the ability to accept, in a nonjudgmental way, both oneself and the current situation. The goal is to be able to calmly recognize distressing situations and their impact, rather than becoming overwhelmed or hiding from them. By approaching stressful situations in this way, we are able to make smarter decisions about how or whether to take action.
Step 4 - Emotion Regulation: People with intense emotions can become easily triggered, angry, intensely frustrated, depressed, or anxious. By learning to regulate their emotions, clients begin to feel empowered and more in control. DBT skills for emotion regulation can include;
Identifying and labeling emotions. This can be surprisingly challenging for people who do not have a strong emotional vocabulary.
Identifying potential obstacles to changing emotions
Learning to value the vulnerability that is a part of expressing emotions
Increasing opportunities for positive emotional situations
Increasing mindfulness of current emotions
Opposite actions
Fact-checking
Problem solving
Plan in advance
Emotional regulation skills are based on the theory that intense emotions are conditioned responses to troublesome experiences. According to this theory, if someone can be conditioned to respond in dysfunctional ways, then they can also be conditioned to respond in healthier ways.
Step 5 - Interpersonal Effectiveness: Interpersonal response patterns are effective strategies to be able to ask for what you need, say no, and manage conflict. Clients who come in with emotion regulation challenges often possess a solid foundation of interpersonal skills, but do not know how to apply them to specific situations. This module focuses on situations where the objective is to change something or to resist changes that someone else is trying to make effectively. These skills help the client maximize the chances of a successful outcome, while also maintaining good relationships and a sense of dignity.
How DBT Helps:
Helps people build on their own strengths and natural resources
Encourages a balanced belief system (rather than all or nothing)
There is a strong focus on reinforcement activities, which encourages sustainability
If you’re looking for one-on-one personalized support and feel that Dialectical Behavioral Therapy or any other method of therapy may be right for you, reach out here. We offer in person therapy as well as telehealth counseling via video or phone platform.
We are here to help you step into your best life!
A note about our fees: our session fee for individual therapy is $250-350, and we provide the paperwork for your insurance company for out of network reimbursement if you have out of network benefits.