Author: Gary Jackson

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Techniques for Addiction

The diary card may also include space for a general rating for the day and any medications or substances used (legal or illegal). These questions aid the individual in making the connections between a galvanizing event and the reaction s/he had to the event, as well as understanding how the emotional reaction impacts the self and others. When you break a judgment down into a fact and your emotional reaction, you not only reduce the emotion(s) you are feeling, you can also be empowered to think about ways to solve the problem and make healthy decisions.

Information about workshops, intensive training, online training, and other educational products for patients and therapists can be obtained through Behavioral Tech, LLC (). Although some attach easily to their treatment providers, others behave like butterflies, flying frequently into and out of the therapist’s hand and departing just at the very moment when the therapist believes they have landed for good (Linehan, 1993a). Common butterfly problems include episodic engagement in therapy, failure to return telephone calls or participate in sessions, and ultimately early termination from treatment. Additionally, the therapist has relatively little power to persuade butterfly patients to do things they prefer not to do.

How Does Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Work?

DBT also provides healthy coping skills and helps teens grow their self-awareness and accountability. It’s common for a teen to think, This isn’t fair or I shouldn’t have this problem, although it often makes them feel worse. DBT activities for teens focused on distress tolerance help them learn to become less reactive and emotional when they experience difficult emotions.

• On the flipside of savoring the positive, letting go of the negative also has a place in emotion regulation.
• This skill teaches clients to control their thoughts and to avoid letting their minds dictate their lives.
• To work on describing emotions, try to describe the qualities of your emotions and pay attention to things that may interfere, like secondary emotions that spring from the original emotion.

In doing so, individuals learn how to handle difficult situations
and improve communication and relationships. These targets are contingent on the severity
of existing problems and the relationships between them. Individuals also learn self-validation techniques and how to
maintain focus and control emotional stress.