Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Skills Training Groups
DBT stands for “Dialectical Behavioral Therapy”. It was developed by Marsha Linehan, professor of Psychology at the University of Washington. It is the only therapy to date which has been proven by research to help those with Borderline Personality Disorder. DBT is a combination of Cognitive therapy and Behavioral therapy, as well as other methodologies including the mindfulness skills of Eastern thought and practice.
It is important to realize that the conditions that respond well to DBT have originated in stressful or traumatic childhood experiences. These can include emotional abuse (such as yelling and put-downs), physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, witnessing violence in the home, divorce of parents, mentally ill parents, substance abuse in the home, having someone in the household become incarcerated. All of these are crises that interfere with development as people grow up. They make it hard to learn some of the skills of life. DBT gives that second chance to learn skills for success in adulthood.
Some areas have skilled DBT therapists who want to help you. Our DBT therapists are also EMDRIA-Certified EMDR Therapists. Please contact them for more information.
DBT has also been shown to help those with any kind of “chaos” issues. Many with Bipolar Disorder have reported life-changing gains from their DBT training. Both Bipolar Disorder and Borderline Personality Disorder are among the most risky of the psychological disorders. The feelings of depression and urge to harm oneself can be high. The rates of suicide are higher for these conditions than for other disorders.
Thus, DBT is a most important adjunct to effective psychotherapy. DBT training groups will help you learn:
- Mindfulness
- Interpersonal effectiveness and assertiveness
- How to do better at work, at home, and at fun
- Emotional regulation
- Distress tolerance
It is an ideal choice for people who experience the following:
- Extreme distress, including low self-esteem, explosive anger, depression, self-harm behaviors, including suicidal thoughts and actions
- Confusion and chaos in relationships causing the loss or weakening of many relationships
- Frequent difficulty creating the quality of life you seek
- Difficulty creating and keeping relationships
Please contact our DBT specialists to help you to gain more positive control of your emotions, your behavior and your life. EMDR can help. Mindfulness practices are integrated into EMDR therapy, as are emotional regulation and distress tolerance. EMDR can also help you to rehearse new skills and feel better prepared to be successful. It can help you to process and learn the most from any “failures” and get back on the road to improvement and success.
To learn more about EMDR, please go to our Home Page where we have brain scans showing the benefit of EMDR therapy for a traumatized patient. There is a video by CBS News Special Reports, and other information as well.
We wish you well in your healing journey. Our specialists are very interested to hear from you. Please call them today.
