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What is DBT?

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (“DBT”) combines cognitive and behavioural therapy, incorporating methodologies from various practices including Eastern mindfulness techniques.  It was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan originally for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (“BPD”) – a.k.a. Emotion Regulation Disorder . It is becoming more and more widely used for other conditions including; anxiety, depression and addiction evidenced by many academic studies. DBT includes four categories of skills including; mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Mindfulness teaches us how to be present and in the moment and how to have a non-judgmental stance. Distress tolerance skills help us with accepting reality and to ease the intensity of the moment. Emotion Regulation skills teach us how to practice self care and to be in “wise mind”. Interpersonal effectiveness skills help us to use structured statements to meet our needs and keep our relationships healthy. For people who suffer with emotion regulation disorder and other mental health conditions DBT can provide a freedom from the intensity of emotions that can overtake our ability to function on a daily basis. DBT can reduce the incidences of emotion dysregulation, impulsivity, interpersonal problems, anxiety, depression, self harm and suicidal behaviours. DBT can make life worth living again.

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