DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY
What is DBT?
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a bio-social treatment developed in the 1980’s by Dr. Marsha Linehan. Linehan developed DBT to treat borderline personality disorder. Since then research has shown it to be a successful treatment for a variety of issues related to regulating emotions.
DBT Treats the Following Problems:
Painful and overwhelming emotions
Feelings of hopelessness and despair
Frequently changing and unpredictable moods
Poor impulse control, particularly around substance abuse, eating problems, sexual addiction, and gambling/shopping addictions
Feelings of emptiness and loneliness
Difficult and volatile relationships
Anxiety and depression
Feelings of worthlessness and shame
Suicidal thoughts
Self-harming behaviour
Fear of abandonment
DBT Has Four Components:
1) Skills training groups based on four modules: Basic Mindfulness Skills, Distress Tolerance Skills, Emotion Regulation Skills, and Interpersonal Relationship Skills,
2) Individual counselling sessions,
3) Brief phone coaching between counselling sessions,
4) Participation of the counsellor on a collaborative DBT team which meets weekly for supervision.
Many clients benefit from parts of DBT but do not need the full program. However, DBT is one of the few treatments that have ever been found to successfully treat borderline personality disorder.
A DBT counsellor works with you to determine which parts of the treatment would help meet your specific needs and goals.