What Can You Expect from a DBT Program?
Note: Click on the drop-down menu under the tab about our DBT programming to learn more about what to expect in a DBT skills group over the course of a year and how a typical class is organized as well as learn more about the fees for each component of the program.
Read below for some history about DBT and to learn more about DBT in general.
This therapy was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan at the University of Washington. While it was originally developed as Dr. Linehan was searching for methods to best help people who are diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, this therapy has been researched to be effective with a much broader population of clients whose challenges are believed to be driven by a combination of a sensitive and vulnerable emotion system combined with early experiences that were chronically invalidating. Click this Link to learn more about the development of the therapy and the theory underlying it. DBT is a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment and Mindfulness Based Treatment and balances both acceptance and change based “strategies”. Paradoxically, for many of us the most challenging change is learning to accept ourselves. Does this mean that you have to settle for misery... no! What it does mean is that accepting ourselves as we currently are... is the foundation of our change effort. Behavioral Therapists believe that change happens from the inside out vs outside in. In other words, people are more likely to change the way they feel about themselves and how others relate to them by changing their actions first. (In behavior therapy - thoughts are behaviors too.) You may have experience with waiting to feel better for your life to get better... this can be especially difficult if you are a person with a sensitive and highly changeable emotional landscape. Folks with frequent and intense emotions benefit greatly from learning how to motivate themselves independent of mood. Contrary to what you might believe... motivation is a skill, vs an inherent personality trait and a key skill we focus on developing in DBT.
So... What Does the Dialectical part mean?
Dialectics is a key component of DBT that makes it different than other Cognitive Behavioral Treatments. It is a complex concept, but it can be helpful to think about it as practicing a both/and perspective versus an either/or perspective. Often people think that this means they have to let go of their strongly held perspectives. That is not necessarily the idea, though it may happen. The process of finding the dialectic involves finding the truth and validity in two very strongly held but opposite perspectives. Metaphorically, instead of making gray out of two seemingly incompatible perspectives we want to make polka dots. One of the key dialectics in DBT is that all people entering therapy are doing the best that they can and at the same time, they must work harder if they want to change. Dialectical thinking involves looking at an issue from many different positions without necessarily losing our own. In DBT skills groups and DBT therapy in general you will be challenged to expand your perspective to include what you may not readily see at first. The skills of thinking dialectically can be especially relevant because when people experience very strong emotions frequently, the emotion changes how we think. This is typified by people when they say, "I am feeling blue" or "I see red when I am angry"... the emotion actually impacts how we interpret our experience. like "looking through rose-colored glasses."
If we practice dialectical thinking enough, we can recognize... yes, I am seeing red now... but that is just because right now I am angry.
I am not always angry... sometimes I really love this person and allow both to be true.
Basic Assumptions of DBT Providers:
THE GOAL of DBT therapists and Skills Group Teachers is to support clients in developing the tools they need to build a life worth living. I practice DBT because I have directly experienced the benefits of these skills in my life and in the lives of my students and clients. I am incredibly reinforced by the success of the people if have had the gift of shepherding through this process for the past 14 years and continue to be in debt to them for how much I have learned and gained through the generosity of their trust and shared experience!
Dialectical Behavior Therapy was originally developed with people who have borderline personality disorder, which is in essence a group of symptoms that develop if you were born with a sensitive emotion system into an environment that did not understand how you work. In this scenario, it is difficult for anyone to learn the tools needed to effectively regulate their emotions. The bio-social learning theory is a transactional theory of development that seems to explain how the symptoms of BPD can develop under these kinds of circumstances. It is also possible that more severe forms of early trauma occurred, or neglect prevented you from developing these skills. Sometimes, separately from all of the family dynamics the culture we are born into can be pervasively invalidating of our essential being either due to cultural differences, racial differences, gender differences or sexual preference/orientation differences. If you then developed coping mechanisms such as trying to escape current pain through dissociation or disconnection, suicide/self-harm or other impulsive and destructive behaviors and your life may have become pretty chaotic. Full DBT is developed to be especially effective if this is true for you.
You do not have to need full DBT to attend this group. This group is helpful for anyone who wants to learn skills to manage their emotions more effectively and to become more mindful. A quick call or in some cases a screening will be helpful to determine if this group is what you need.
What is Full Dialectical Behavior Therapy Treatment?
Columbia City DBT offers all components of DBT as well as a Skills only option.
Note: Click on the drop-down menu under the tab about our DBT programming to learn more about what to expect in a DBT skills group over the course of a year and how a typical class is organized as well as learn more about the fees for each component of the program.
Read below for some history about DBT and to learn more about DBT in general.
This therapy was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan at the University of Washington. While it was originally developed as Dr. Linehan was searching for methods to best help people who are diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, this therapy has been researched to be effective with a much broader population of clients whose challenges are believed to be driven by a combination of a sensitive and vulnerable emotion system combined with early experiences that were chronically invalidating. Click this Link to learn more about the development of the therapy and the theory underlying it. DBT is a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Treatment and Mindfulness Based Treatment and balances both acceptance and change based “strategies”. Paradoxically, for many of us the most challenging change is learning to accept ourselves. Does this mean that you have to settle for misery... no! What it does mean is that accepting ourselves as we currently are... is the foundation of our change effort. Behavioral Therapists believe that change happens from the inside out vs outside in. In other words, people are more likely to change the way they feel about themselves and how others relate to them by changing their actions first. (In behavior therapy - thoughts are behaviors too.) You may have experience with waiting to feel better for your life to get better... this can be especially difficult if you are a person with a sensitive and highly changeable emotional landscape. Folks with frequent and intense emotions benefit greatly from learning how to motivate themselves independent of mood. Contrary to what you might believe... motivation is a skill, vs an inherent personality trait and a key skill we focus on developing in DBT.
So... What Does the Dialectical part mean?
Dialectics is a key component of DBT that makes it different than other Cognitive Behavioral Treatments. It is a complex concept, but it can be helpful to think about it as practicing a both/and perspective versus an either/or perspective. Often people think that this means they have to let go of their strongly held perspectives. That is not necessarily the idea, though it may happen. The process of finding the dialectic involves finding the truth and validity in two very strongly held but opposite perspectives. Metaphorically, instead of making gray out of two seemingly incompatible perspectives we want to make polka dots. One of the key dialectics in DBT is that all people entering therapy are doing the best that they can and at the same time, they must work harder if they want to change. Dialectical thinking involves looking at an issue from many different positions without necessarily losing our own. In DBT skills groups and DBT therapy in general you will be challenged to expand your perspective to include what you may not readily see at first. The skills of thinking dialectically can be especially relevant because when people experience very strong emotions frequently, the emotion changes how we think. This is typified by people when they say, "I am feeling blue" or "I see red when I am angry"... the emotion actually impacts how we interpret our experience. like "looking through rose-colored glasses."
If we practice dialectical thinking enough, we can recognize... yes, I am seeing red now... but that is just because right now I am angry.
I am not always angry... sometimes I really love this person and allow both to be true.
Basic Assumptions of DBT Providers:
- People are doing the best they can with what they know
- People cannot fail in DBT
- People want to improve
- People are fallible
- People need to learn new behavior both in skills groups and therapy and in the context of their daily life
- People may not have cause all of their problems, but they have to solve them anyway
- People need to work harder and be more motivated to change
THE GOAL of DBT therapists and Skills Group Teachers is to support clients in developing the tools they need to build a life worth living. I practice DBT because I have directly experienced the benefits of these skills in my life and in the lives of my students and clients. I am incredibly reinforced by the success of the people if have had the gift of shepherding through this process for the past 14 years and continue to be in debt to them for how much I have learned and gained through the generosity of their trust and shared experience!
Dialectical Behavior Therapy was originally developed with people who have borderline personality disorder, which is in essence a group of symptoms that develop if you were born with a sensitive emotion system into an environment that did not understand how you work. In this scenario, it is difficult for anyone to learn the tools needed to effectively regulate their emotions. The bio-social learning theory is a transactional theory of development that seems to explain how the symptoms of BPD can develop under these kinds of circumstances. It is also possible that more severe forms of early trauma occurred, or neglect prevented you from developing these skills. Sometimes, separately from all of the family dynamics the culture we are born into can be pervasively invalidating of our essential being either due to cultural differences, racial differences, gender differences or sexual preference/orientation differences. If you then developed coping mechanisms such as trying to escape current pain through dissociation or disconnection, suicide/self-harm or other impulsive and destructive behaviors and your life may have become pretty chaotic. Full DBT is developed to be especially effective if this is true for you.
You do not have to need full DBT to attend this group. This group is helpful for anyone who wants to learn skills to manage their emotions more effectively and to become more mindful. A quick call or in some cases a screening will be helpful to determine if this group is what you need.
What is Full Dialectical Behavior Therapy Treatment?
- Weekly Individual DBT therapy sessions with a trained DBT therapist
- Weekly DBT Skills Groups
- Skills coaching over the phone with your therapist
- Therapist involved in a DBT focused consultation team
Columbia City DBT offers all components of DBT as well as a Skills only option.