Because DBT was developed for individuals with borderline personality disorder, it has certain assumptions about the client built into its treatment approach. First, it assumes that the client may have poor coping mechanisms and emotion regulation, as well as an unstable sense of self and how to create and maintain healthy relationships with others. It also assumes that clients may see suicide as a valid problem-solving technique for these issues. To address them, DBT takes a multifaceted approach that usually includes individual and group therapy, as well as team communication and collaboration among all treatment providers for a client.
Within treatment, DBT has a very specific and structured set of skill sequences, grouped into four areas. Two areas, mindfulness and distress tolerance strategies, are acceptance skills. The other two, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness techniques, are change skills. Mindfulness techniques teach the client to observe, experience, and accept emotions nonjudgmentally. This is the area that is most closely related to third wave CBT. Distress tolerance techniques allow clients to remain calm and in control when distressing situations occur, rather than spiraling into destructive or impulsive behavior. The goal, again, is to nonjudgmentally accept the negative situation and find ways to deal with its
Just as you did last week with ACT, for this Discussion, you consider the basic tenets of DBT and evaluate its relationship to social change.
To prepare:
- Read the articles and review the media related to Dialectical Behavior Therapy in this week’s Learning Resources. Consider how or whether any parts of this approach resonate professionally with you.
- Consider whether DBT is related to social change.
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