Dialectical Behavioral Therapy in St. Louis, MO
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, is a type of evidence based therapy created by Marsha Linehan. It focuses on dialectical thinking and finding a balance between two opposite ideas, change and acceptance. It focuses on teaching clients to accept their emotions and thoughts as they are, without judgement, to help facilitate change in what they can control.
DBT Skills
DBT teaches skills in four areas:
- Mindfulness Skills: Focusing on the present and accepting it for what it is without judgement. The “what” skills involve observing, describing, and taking part in the moment and the “how” skills focus on having a nonjudgemental state of mind, what to do in that present moment, and paying attention to one thing at a time
- Distress Tolerance: There is only a certain amount of stress a person can take in a daily basis and it changes from person to person, day to day. Distress Tolerance skills help and individual recognize when they are emotionally vulnerable and raise the stress tolerance they have on a day to day. The idea is pain and stress cannot be avoided in life, but we can do our best to tolerate and cope with it.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: Setting boundaries and asking for what we need from others can be hard, especially if we’ve never been taught or was taught it was unsafe to do so. These skills focus on different ways to assert ourselves in relationships and healthy ways to set boundaries and say “no”.
- Emotional Regulation: The idea is that people behave in a way that correlates with their emotional state. If we are angry, we yell. If we are happy, we laugh. These skills help people regulate emotions that may lead to reactions such as screaming, self harming, breaking objects, and other behaviors that can stem from unregulated emotions
Who Can Benefit?
DBT can help a range of people but is well suited for those with patterns of self destructive behaviors, self harm, suicidal thoughts, and other needs that may see improvement with emotional regulation techniques. At Ouroboros Counseling, we use it in combination with other modalities, such as narrative therapy and therapeutic tabletop gaming. If you feel like you may benefit from this type of therapy, reach out at [email protected] or schedule an appointment