Dialectical Behavior Therapy
What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy?
Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a supportive, non-judgemental therapy that assists in breaking down and reevaluating unhelpful thought, emotion, and behavior patterns.The foundation of Dialectics is a key component within therapy. Dialectics are how our mind perceives and analyzes many concepts around us, recognizing polar opposites to understand meaning. For example, we have to see darkness to appreciate there is light, feel sadness to feel happiness, experience fear to know safety. Breaking things down, you can begin to evaluate the opposites of thoughts, perceptions, and behaviors and learn to develop a middle, balanced place of acceptance and wellness. Skills are developed in areas of Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Distress Tolerance..
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Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention on purpose, consciously directing awareness, and being fulling present in the moment non-judgmentally. Our minds and emotions can sometimes take a direction of their own getting wrapped up in worry thoughts, enhancing negative emotional and physical responses, and letting moments of appreciation pass us by. Have you ever been on a walk only to realize you took in none of the walk, instead you got caught up in your thoughts? Think of being able to go on that same walk taking in the beauty of the flowers and trees, feeling the sun or breeze against your skin, listening to the birds singing, and watching the squirrels living freely enhancing your natural appreciation. Another example is during a routine drive to work or class, arriving at our location only to realize we were on autopilot and heard none of our favorite song that was just playing or only half of the story our passenger was sharing on the way. Learn how to allow thoughts and emotions to come and go freely and enhance your ability to be present and truly enjoy your everyday experiences.
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Emotion Regulation incorporates the understanding that emotions are a normal and important part of experiencing life. At times when we are faced with distressing situations, our emotions can get the best of us and be out of proportion to the event. Emotional Regulation skills are taught to change emotions or situations that are not useful or are destructive. Emotions can be mislabeled as something negative, but when managed they are a valuable tool in how we relate to individuals and the environment around us. For example, many individual think that anger is a bad emotion. Rage and Aggression are on the high end of the spectrum of anger and are not effective, doing nothing when you are being wronged is on the other end of the spectrum of anger and is also not effective. Assertiveness and being able to advocate for yourself is in the middle of the spectrum and an effective way to accept and manage the emotion of anger.
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Interpersonal Effectiveness focuses on communication and relationship patterns and incorporating effectiveness skills to build a healthy and balanced relationship with yourself and others. Addressing the areas of being able to ask for what you want, saying no to things you don’t, and being genuine in your relationship with others assists in developing open communication and trust in your connections. It can be a difficult balance at times between being compassionate and caring towards others and taking care of your own needs. This can lead to easily slipping into patterns of stretching yourself too thin, saying yes whenever asked to help regardless if you are really able to, and forgetting or ignoring your own needs.
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Distress Tolerance or Acceptance skills are used when we are unable, unwilling, or it would be inappropriate to change a situation. It works on helping you cope with long and short term emotional and physical pain. There are things in life that are not easy and for many reasons can not be changed. Learn how to get to a place of acceptance, which is different than approval. Acceptance is about being willing to experience the situation you are in without getting caught up in judgement and what you wish was happening. This allows you to work through the situation and stay focused on establishing goals and developing tools to assist in managing emotional and physical pain.
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