Goals of DBT Treatment—
Listed in order of priority:
Decreasing “life interfering behaviors”
High-risk suicidal and/or self-harming behaviors
Decreasing “therapy interfering behaviors”
Behaviors (thoughts/feelings/actions) that can get in the way of treatment happening
Decreasing “quality of life interfering behaviors”
Behaviors that get in the way of your quality of life.
Learning and mastering skills for mood-independent life choices
Decreasing symptoms related to anxiety, and depression and post traumatic stress
Enhancing and sustaining self-respect
Additional goals set by patient to create a ‘life worth living’
Stages of DBT treatment
Stage One
Decreasing or eliminating life-threatening behaviors (e.g., suicide attempts, suicidal thinking, self-injury, homicidal and aggressive behaviors)
Decreasing or eliminating therapy-interfering behaviors (e.g., missing sessions, not doing homework, behaving in a way that burns others out)
Reducing or eliminating hospitalization as a way of handling crisis
Decreasing behaviors that interfere with the quality of life (not going to work or school, binge eating, addiction, avoidance behavior, anger outbursts, skin picking)
Increasing behaviors that will enable a life worth living
Increasing behavioral skills that help to build relationships, manage emotions, and deal effectively with various life problems
Stage Two
Continuing and building on Stage One skills
Targeting and decreasing symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other anxiety- or depression-related symptoms
Stage Three
Increasing love and respect for self and others
Affirming individual life goals
Solving ordinary life problems
Stage Four
Developing the capacity for freedom and joy
Creating a life worth living
The Skills
Emotion Regulation Skills
To avoid being swayed by emotion or limited by logic.
To be emotionally centered and balanced.
To understand the purpose of emotions, increase positive emotions and minimize emotional vulnerability, build emotional resiliency and to decrease emotional suffering.
Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills
To strengthen assertiveness skills of asking for what is needed as well as being able to say “no” to others.
To prioritize interpersonal objectives helping get ones needs met while balancing healthy relationships and maintaining self-respect.
In DBT skills training groups, participants will learn:
Mindfulness Skills
Distress Tolerance Skills
Emotion Regulation Skills
Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills
Mindfulness Skills
To live in the present moment, neither fearful of the future nor clinging to the past
To have more of a sense of control over thoughts, feelings and behaviors
To improve the quality of life, one moment at a time.
A variety of mindfulness exercises will be practiced in each group.
Distress Tolerance Skills
To effectively tolerate and manage crises of the moment rather than reacting and behaving in an unhealthy, reactive, or inappropriate manner. The specific skills have been researched and proven to be effective at regulating emotions. The skills will work to change one’s physiology, balancing the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.