Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) is a cognitive behavioural treatment that was initially developed by Marsha Linehan to treat chronically suicidal individuals diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. Such individuals typically experience extreme emotions and have difficulty regulating and managing their intense emotions, leading to consequential harmful behaviours. However, research has shown that DBT is effective in treating a range of other mental health concerns, including anxiety, depression, and substance use problems. 

DBT is a highly practical talk therapy that helps one learn to manage and regulate their difficult emotions by developing the skills to recognise, experience, and accept them. Similar to CBT, the goal of DBT is to learn how to change your own thoughts, emotions, and behaviours that are causing one distress in life. However, DBT has a greater focus on the emotional states in one’s life and the impact this has on one’s relationship with self and others.

 DBT is comprised of 4 key domains skills: 

• Mindfulness: learning how to focus your awareness on and be in the present moment 

• Emotion regulation: learning how to effectively manage and change your emotions 

• Distress Tolerance: learning how to tolerate pain or distress in difficult situations

• Interpersonal Effectiveness: learning assertiveness strategies to ask for what you or need, and appropriately saying no in a way that maintains self-respect and relationships with others.