DBT or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy has been tried and tested in various environments in the years since Linehan published her first treatment and skills training guides, including with individuals who do not have borderline personality but are suffering from depression, anxiety, or addictions.
People with a variety of mental health problems will benefit from DBT’s skills training and treatment models. DBT focuses on four fundamental principles self-regulation, mindfulness, distress tolerance and interpersonal skills building. One of the most popular practices of DBT is mindfulness, this principle emphasizes paying attention, a sensitivity to the present moment and promotes non-judgmental emotional interactions while decreasing negative feelings and anxiety in people with and without mental health conditions. This is why people suffering from depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, eating disorders, and other mental illnesses can benefit from the mindfulness practice and other dialectical behavior therapy skills.
DBT FOR DEPRESSION
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches skills that are specifically tailored for people who are depressed. DBT as a counselling therapy enables people who are depressed to incorporate constructive emotional experiences into their lives to improve their relationships and find more joy. Evidence-based behavior activation skills are used in DBT to provide people with specific resources while stressed. People suffering from depression will learn skills to better manage their lives and incorporate distress tolerance and interpersonal skills building.
DBT IN THE CASE OF BIPOLAR
Therapy can help people with bipolar disorder develop skills for coping with anxiety and controlling strong emotions. Since borderline personality and bipolar disorder symptoms are so similar, some researchers have suggested that borderline personality be classified as part of the bipolar continuum. People with bipolar disorder also benefit from stress management activities in coping with stressors that can make them more vulnerable to depression and mania.
ANXIETY AND DBT
Dialectical behavior therapy teaches people how to live in the present moment and notice, adjust, and change their feelings. The ability of anxiety therapy to withstand intense emotions and adjust actions to generate new emotional experiences is beneficial to anxiety. DBT’s mindfulness skills teach people with anxiety how to put their thoughts about the past or future aside and focus on what is going on in their lives right now.
ADDICTIONS AND DBT
A section on skills for tolerating anxiety in people with addictions is included in the updated DBT skills manual released in 2014. This group includes people who are addicted to alcohol and other drugs and people who are addicted to gambling, sex, shopping, and other activities. The techniques are focused on a dialectical abstinence theory, which recognizes that harm reduction and abstinence are both necessary and may coexist on a person’s road to recovery.
DBT FOR EATING DISORDERS
People with eating disorders can benefit from controlling strong emotions and recognizing trigger emotions that contribute to problematic behaviours. Food restriction, bingeing, and purging are all seen as coping with painful emotions in DBT. DBT’s skills training aspect teaches new ways to manage these troubling emotions.
Dialectical behavioural therapy is not diagnosis-specific and is based on learning theory. DBT has proven to be beneficial to people with a wide variety of issues. If you think DBT may be right for you, don’t wait to find a therapist who has been qualified to provide this successful evidence-based treatment.
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