DBT

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a form of behavioral treatment effective for those suffering from a wide range of disorders including substance abuse, suicidal ideation and self-harm behaviors, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, and eating disorders. At Mind Body Co-op, our intensively trained therapists provide model-adherent DBT treatment including individual psychotherapy, skills and process groups.

Areas of Skill Development:

Through DBT treatment people are able to replace problematic behaviors, thoughts, and emotion patterns through skill development in the following five areas:

Capability enhancement: DBT provides opportunities for the development of existing skills. In treatment, four basic skill sets are taught.

Mindfulness: controlling attention and awareness by being fully present in the moment
Distress tolerance: developing behavioral and cognitive skills to increase the capacity to tolerate distress and pain
Interpersonal effectiveness: improving the quality of relationships, increasing self-respect, and improving communication style
Emotional regulation: increasing positive emotional experiences and reducing negative and problematic emotional experiences.

Generalization: DBT therapists use various techniques to encourage the transfer of learned skills across all settings. People in therapy may learn to apply what they have learned at home, at school, at work, and in the community. For example, a therapist might ask the person in treatment to talk with a partner about a conflict. The person may use emotion regulation skills before and after the discussion.

Motivational enhancement. DBT uses individualized behavioral treatment plans to reduce problematic behaviors that might negatively affect quality of life. For example, therapists might use self-monitoring tracking sheets so sessions can be adapted to address the most severe issues first.

Capability and motivational enhancement of therapists. Because DBT is often provided to people who experience chronic, severe, and intense mental health issues, therapists receive a great deal of supervision and support to prevent things like vicarious traumatization or burnout. For example, treatment-team meetings are held frequently to give therapists a space to provide and receive support, training, and clinical guidance.

Structuring of the environment. A goal of therapy is often to ensure positive, adaptive behaviors are reinforced across all environmental settings. For example, if someone participates in multiple treatment programs within one agency, the therapist might make sure each program was set up to reinforce all the positive skills and behaviors learned.

For more information about DBT, watch this informative video from psychhub.

The standard form of DBT consists of individual therapy, skills training group, phone coaching, and a therapist consultation team. Those in standard DBT attend therapy and a skills training group weekly. MBC have multiple clinicians who are extensively trained in the DBT model of therapy. The groups are designed to help those in treatment develop behavioral skills through group work and homework assignments. These assignments allow people to practice learned skills in day-to-day life. MBC has weekly DBT skills and process groups.