Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) is a synthesis of several treatment modalities, including cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness exercises, talking therapy, and psycho-educational skill building. This synthesis of approaches is highly effective in addressing borderline personality disorder and other issues.
DBT helps manage problematic behaviors young people sometimes use to manage the discomfort of extreme emotional intensity. Dialectical behavioral therapy encourages clients to take responsibility for their problems and helps them examine how they cope with conflict and negative feelings. Our clinicians use DBT approaches to help young women identify maladaptive coping patterns and replace them with adaptive coping strategies that promote wellness and psychological well-being.
Dialectical behavioral therapy combines the basic strategies of cognitive-behavioral therapy with eastern mindfulness practices. DBT is based on the idea that opposites can coexist and be synthesized. This strategy is very useful for young women experiencing mood disregulation and impulsivity. Dialectical behavioral therapy calls on the individual to accept current reality while maintaining a strong and conscious commitment to change.
Though designed initially to treat young women with borderline personality disorder, DBT has been successfully adapted to treat a variety of other issues, including eating disorders, substance abuse, self-harm, and anger management. Dialectical behavioral therapy targets the issues that cause distress and teaches skills that replace self-defeating behaviors. DBT helps young people understand that they are doing the best they can at the moment, but that they can, nonetheless, also learn more effective ways of living.
Our dialectical behavioral therapy focuses on the following skills modules:
- Mindfulness: focusing the mind, directing attention, understanding how you feel
- Emotional Regulation: reducing emotional intensity
- Distress Tolerance: reducing impulsivity, crisis management
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: keeping relationships steady, getting what is needed, and maintaining self-respect
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