DBT Pros and Cons: Introduction
DBT, or Dialectical Behavior Therapy, is a comprehensive approach to treating complex mental health conditions, including Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), Borderline Intellectual Functioning, and other forms of severe personality disturbance. DBT's cornerstone skill is skillful communication, which teaches individuals to express their anger, disappointment, frustration, resentment, sadness, confusion, shame, guilt, and other difficult emotions in a nonaggressive, self-verified, and self-honoring manner.
One of the core components of DBT is distress tolerance. DBT recognizes that individuals with BPD or other severe personality difficulties often struggle to tolerate distressful situations and emotions. DBT's distress tolerance skills help clients to engage more effectively with distressing feelings and memories, reducing the risk of impulsive and damaging behavior. DBT's approach is to teach clients to identify and accept reality, as well as tolerate distress, rather than to avoid or resist it.
When clients engage in distressing activities, DBT assists them in finding ways to reduce distress and increase their ability to tolerate challenging situations. DBT's techniques include mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness and emotion regulation. These skills help clients to develop new ways of thinking about their experiences and relationships, improving their overall functioning and well-being.
DBT is a collaborative, interpersonal therapy that involves clients, therapists, and family members in a shared process. DBT therapy is typically delivered in individual, group, and family sessions. Group sessions are particularly helpful for teaching clients how to manage distressful emotions and relationships.
The goal of DBT is to help clients develop a greater sense of self-acceptance and autonomy, reducing their need for external support and validation. DBT emphasizes the importance of self-verification, self-honoring, and nonviolence, which empower clients to take charge of their own lives and make choices that are authentic and respectful of their own values and boundaries.
DBT's approach is to empower clients to develop skills to manage their emotions and relationships in a flexible, adaptive way. DBT encourages clients to engage in activities that are safe and comfortable for them, rather than to push themselves to engage in activities that are difficult or painful. With practice, clients gradually learn to identify and accept their feelings and experiences, reducing their distress and improving their overall functioning.
