What is DBT?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based therapy that helps individuals develop skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness over time and in daily life.

Who is DBT for and what does it help with?

DBT therapy is especially effective for people who experience intense emotions, relationship difficulties, or patterns of feeling overwhelmed or stuck. Many people seek DBT therapy after feeling flooded by emotions, stuck in cycles they can’t seem to change, or exhausted from trying to manage everything on their own.

How DBT works at WMI

Our DBT program consists of four core components that must be offered simultaneously for the treatment to be considered comprehensive and adherent.

The absence of any of these components results in DBT-informed therapy, which differs from comprehensive DBT and does not include the full evidence-based model.

The four components are:

• Skills Training Group: The heart and soul of DBT is skills training. The skills training group assists clients with overcoming skills deficits through the acquisition of dozens of skills in the following four areas: mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. Clients attend one 90-minute group per week for 7-14 months depending on the severity of their issues.

• Individual Therapy: Individual therapy typically consists of one 50-minute session per week. Therapy complements skills training by: enhancing motivation to practice skills, targeting specific areas of ineffectiveness, and assisting with the transition to more skillful behavior.

• Phone Coaching: Phone coaching is offered to DBT clients on a 24/7 basis. It serves as live assistance with applying skills in clients’ real world environments. DBT understands that more change happens outside of therapy than inside the consulting room and phone coaching is designed to effectively shape positive change on a daily basis.

• Therapist Consultation Team: The consultation team serves as therapy for the therapists. Anyone providing DBT at the Wise Mind Institute meets weekly for a two-hour team meeting where therapists support one another to deliver treatment in the most effective way possible.

You might also be interested in:

• DBT for adolescents. Head to our DBT-A page

• Radically Open DBT for perfectionism and over-control. Head to our RO-DBT page

• Ready to schedule a free consultation? Head to our Scheduling page