Though 1 in 5 adults experience some form of mental illness, only around 40% of them seek treatment with most of them waiting a decade to start the treatment. Mental illness is treatable to a large extent. There are a number of therapies available and one among them is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
The basics of DBT:
Psychologist Marsh M. Linehan developed this cognitive behavioral psychotherapy in the late 1980s. Some are prone to react in an intense manner when facing emotional situations especially when it comes to problems in a relationship. Their arousal levels when countering such situations are higher when compared to an average person and they take more time to return to normal.
People with borderline personality disorder have sudden intense surges of emotions leaving them with extreme mood swings. The core ideas of DBT are acceptance and change. It teaches patients to sit calmly, accept and process the emotions and work on changing negative behaviors.
Therapy is important – Get help right away:
If you want to know more about what is dialectical behavior therapy?, contact mhs DBT & Mental Health Services. Their therapists are happy to help you with your queries and let you know if you require DBT.
Components of DBT:
- Support-oriented: Focuses on helping patients recognize their strengths and thereby feel good about themselves and their life.
- Cognitive-based: DBT assists to identify thoughts and acts that make life complicated. For example: ‘I need to be the best at everything I do’ would gradually be replaced with ‘I don’t need to be perfect at everything for people to care about me’.
- Collaborative: DBT involves homework assignments, role-playing different ways of interacting with people, practicing skills that soothing oneself when angry/upset. Therapists work with patients to learn and apply DBT skills.
What to expect during the therapy sessions?
There are group and individual therapies every week along with 24*7 phone coaching. Different ways to handle stressful situations are taught. A therapist uses a Diary card to track the emotions of each patient throughout the week, identify the DBT skills that were applied and see if it worked.
The therapist lets patients know when they struggled to apply some skills and what to do about it. If you find yourself in a tricky situation anytime during the week, you can call your therapist for advice.
DBT is ideal for those with borderline personality disorder and who are struggling to be in control of their emotions. A therapist will assess you and let you know if it would work for you.