Dialectics
TRUE or FALSE
Two things that seem like (or are) opposites can both be true.
TRUE
We know that opposites can be true and contradictions may not cancel each other out. For example, you can understand someone's perspective and disagree with that person at the same time. This is where saying, “We can agree to disagree” comes into play.
DBT uses the concept there are __ states of mind to describe a person's thoughts and behaviors
(Hint: how many )
DBT uses the concept of 3 states of mind to describe a person's thoughts and behaviors
Reasonable mind
Emotion mind
Wise mind
Name this skill
Bringing your full awareness to the present moment without judgement and without trying to change it
Mindfulness
What skills teach us how to tolerate the urge to act from emotion mind when experiencing intense emotions.
Distress Tolerance Skills
TRUE or FALSE
Your ability to regulate your emotions affects your relationships, academic performance, long-term mental health, and ability to thrive in a complex world.
TRUE
We must learn how to effectively regulate the intensity of emotions and tolerate the urges to act on them when doing so makes the situation worse.
We use this skill to increase our ability to recognize that there can be multiple perspectives to any situation.
Dialectical Thinking
There is always more than one way to see a situation. It is important to look at a situation from multiple perspectives. This does not mean you will automatically agree with the other person or perspective, it simply allows you to hold two or more perspectives at the same time.
If you are acting out of reason and logic in the absence of emotion, you are acting out of which state of mind?
Reasonable mind
Fill in the blank
_________ is one way we can practice focusing our awareness on being in just this moment while sitting, standing, or lying quietly for a set period of time.
Meditation
It is one of the best techniques to use in the practice of mindfulness
There are two types of Distress Tolerance Skills.
1. Crisis Survival Skills
2. Reality Acceptance Skills
Which one helps us get through a short term crisis situation without making it worse?
Crisis Survival Skills
The goal of crisis survival skills is to help you get through a short term crisis situation without making it worse. Often when crisis arises, we can act from emotion mind and cause more problems. Crisis survival skills help us tolerate our distress so we don't act on our emotions.
TRUE or FALSE
Our emotions are based on facts.
FALSE
Many emotions and actions are set off by our thoughts and interpretations of events, not by the events themselves. Sometimes what we are reacting to is not the actual facts of the situation, but our interpretations of the event.
TRUE or FALSE
"I'm doing the best I can, AND I need to do better," is an example of a dialectical statement.
TRUE
We want to move away from "either-or" thinking and move toward "both-and" thinking.
Trying to honor the truth on both sides of a conflict is the best approach. This helps us avoid seeing the world in ‘black-or-white,’ all-or-nothing’ ways. Thinking in the extremes is often what gets people stuck or rigid in situations. Dialectics helps us get unstuck by trying to honor the truth in two opposites. We call this “finding the synthesis” or “finding the middle path.”
If you are thinking and acting from intense emotions and disregarding all reason and logic, you are using which state of mind?
Emotion mind
Fill in the blank
The "____" skills of mindfulness focus on how we can practice mindfulness and access our wise mind.
The "____" skills are Nonjudgementally, One-mindfully, and Effectively
"How" skills
Which skills should I use for long term distressing situations?
Reality Acceptance Skills
These skills focus on tolerating distress for problems that cannot be solved in the longer term-either because the past cannot be changed, because of circumstances we can't control, or because solutions are only possible in the future.
TRUE of FALSE
Our emotions don't have much effect on our thoughts about events.
FALSE
Our emotions have a HUGE impact on our thoughts about events, which is why examining our thoughts and checking the facts can help us change our emotions.
TRUE of FALSE
Finding the dialectic synthesis or "middle path" is the same as a compromise.
FALSE
A dialectic synthesis is NOT a compromise. It is a solution that honors the truth on both sides. A compromise between black and white would be gray, instead, the "middle path" we are searching for looks like black and white polka dots or a checkerboard.
What is it called when reasonable mind and emotion mind come together (the synthesis)?
Wise mind
Wise mind is a place where we can make decisions that acknowledge both our logic and our emotions.
TRUE of FALSE
You don't have to practice mindfulness skills since it is an automatic skill.
FALSE
Mindfulness skills often require a lot of practice! Like any new skill, it is important to practice first when you don't need the skill. If you practice in easier situations, the skill will become automatic, and you will have it when you need it.
TRUE or FALSE
Distress tolerance skills will solve the problem.
FALSE
Distress Tolerance skills do not solve the problems causing distress or totally get rid of the pain. The goal of distress tolerance skills is to make the pain more tolerable.
You are analyzing a situation to see if you are interpreting it correctly? What emotional regulation skill are you using?
Check the Facts
There are three steps to checking the facts. First is figuring out the emotion you feel, next is figuring out the action urge that goes with the emotion, and lastly ask yourself, "Does the emotion fit the facts?"
TRUE or FALSE
Dialectics is the view that change is the only constant.
TRUE
Change is the only constant.
Can you think of anything that remains the same in your life? Every day, every moment, things are changing. We are constantly learning new things. Our bodies are constantly changing, even if only on a molecular level. Change is constant. For some people, change is really a difficult thing to deal with. Dialectical thinking helps to remind us that nothing in life remains the same. This doesn’t mean that things always get worse, that would be an example of non dialectical thinking. It means that things simply change, whether for the better or worse, and then they will change again.
Fill in the Blank
The goal of mindfulness is to access and use our _____ mind
The goal of mindfulness is to access and use our "wise mind."
Fill in the blank
The "___" skills of mindfulness are what you do when practicing mindfulness.
The "____" skills include Observing, Describing, and Participating
The "What" skills
Fill in the blank
A stressful, short-term event that a person wants to resolve now but cannot is called a _______.
Crisis
This emotional regulation skill works best when the emotion does not fit the facts and when the opposite action is done all the way.
Opposite Action
Every emotion has an action urge associated with it. One strategy to change or regulate emotion is to change our behavior by acting in a way that opposes or is inconsistent with the action urge commonly associated with the emotions. For example, if we feel fear our urge is usually to scape or avoid it. The opposite action to change or regulate that emotion would be to approach.