Do you feel your mind is being pulled in a hundred different directions at once? Do you have a hard time handling some of your emotions and does this cause any problems in your relationships?

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) offers individuals comprehensive skills to manage painful emotions, reduce suffering, decrease conflicts in their relationships and build a life worth living.

DBT focuses on 4 specific areas of therapeutic skills. These are:

• Mindfulness – Helps individuals be present in the current moment.
• Distress tolerance – Most people try and keep themselves safe from all negative emotions. Distress tolerance is geared toward increasing a person’s tolerance to negative emotion.
• Emotion regulation – Offers strategies to manage intense emotions that are the root cause of problems in a person’s life.
• Interpersonal effectiveness – These techniques allow an individual to communicate with others in a confident, assertive way that maintains self-respect and strengthens relationships.

How Does it Work Exactly?

Many of us live our daily lives with a constant stream of uncontrollable painful emotions right under our awareness. These emotions affect how we feel about ourselves and how we interact with other people, including friends, romantic partners and family members.

DBT essentially works with individuals to help them find ways to manage their unwanted emotions so they can feel balanced, in control and able to interact effectively. The message at the heart of DBT is acceptance and change.

When is DBT Used and What Can You Expect?

While dialectical behavioral therapy was initially developed to treat those with borderline personality disorder, research has since shown that DBT can successfully treat people with depression, bipolar disorder, PTSD, eating disorders, and substance abuse.

Comprehensive DBT treatment consists of a weekly DBT skills class and weekly individual therapy sessions. The individual therapy sessions allow you to have one-on-one contact with a trained therapist who will help you apply DBT skills to your daily life, address any obstacle that may arise and keep you motivated! The DBT skills class will learn new skills in all areas of your life.

Finding a DBT Therapist

If you are interested in exploring DBT therapy, you want to look for a therapist with specialized training and experience in DBT strategies. The Linehan Board of Certification is a non-profit organization that has developed certification standards for DBT clinicians. DBT Network of Utah has two Linehan Board Certified Clinicians and others who are working toward certification.

If you or someone you know may benefit from Dialectical Behavior Therapy, please get in touch with us. We would be happy to discuss our Comprehensive DBT program with you .