Dialectical Behavior Therapy

(DBT) Skills

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills help you manage your emotions, cope with stress, improve your interpersonal relationships, and enhance your self-awareness. These skills include mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Pair of hands with a bright yellow flower resting between them

What do DBT skills help with?

  • Emotional Dysregulation: Helps you regulate intense emotions (such as those related to anxiety, depression, or anger) and reduces the frequency and intensity of emotional outbursts.

  • Self-Harm and Suicidal Behavior: Provides skills to help you cope with distress without resorting to self-harm or suicidal behaviors.

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Helps you cope with trauma-related symptoms.

4 Modules:

  1. Mindfulness:

    • Improves awareness of the present moment and reduces judgmental thinking.

    • Helps individuals stay grounded and reduces impulsive reactions.

    • Skills: Observing, describing, and participating in the present moment without judgment.

  2. Distress Tolerance:

    • Provides tools to tolerate and survive crises without worsening the situation.

    • Focuses on accepting reality instead of trying to change it.

    • Skills: Self-soothing, distraction, improving the moment, and radical acceptance.

  3. Emotion Regulation:

    • Helps individuals understand and manage their emotions

    • Reduces vulnerability to negative emotions and increases positive emotional experiences.

    • Skills: Identifying and labeling emotions, reducing emotional vulnerability, and increasing positive emotional experiences.

  4. Interpersonal Effectiveness:

    • Improves communication and relationship skills

    • Helps with asserting needs, setting boundaries, and maintaining healthy relationships.

    • Skills: DEAR MAN (Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, Mindful, Appear confident, Negotiate), GIVE (Gentle, Interested, Validate, Easy manner), and FAST (Fair, Apologies, Stick to values, Truthful).

Schedule Free Therapy Consultation Today

Dr. Denese has therapy openings in Massachusetts and New York.

If you are interested in therapy with Dr. Denese, please schedule a free 15-minute consultation call.

You can schedule this consultation by calling 617-800-9262 or by sending a message through the website form.