Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) facilitates the development of new skills to handle distressing emotions and decrease conflict within relationships. More specifically, DBT targets four key areas of life:
- Mindfulness = Learn how to focus on accepting your circumstances and be present in the current moment.
- Distress Tolerance = Increase tolerance of negative emotions, rather than avoiding or escaping situations.
- Emotion Regulation = Development of coping skills to deal with intense emotions that create chaos in daily life.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness = Building and maintaining healthier relationships
DBT was originally developed to treat borderline personality disorder. However, research shows that DBT has also been used successfully to treat people experiencing depression, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic-stress disorder. DBT skills have the capability of helping those who wish to improve their ability to regulate emotions, tolerate negative emotions, be mindful, and communicate effectively with others.
As its name suggests, DBT is influenced by the philosophical perspective of dialectics: balancing opposites. The therapist consistently works with the individual to find ways to hold two seemingly opposite perspectives at once, promoting balance and avoiding black and white-the all-or-nothing styles of thinking. When skills are utilized, DBT promotes a both-and rather than an either-or outlook. The dialectic at the heart of DBT is acceptance and change.