DBT Basics
What are the 4 main modules of DBT that you are learning skills for?
What is Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness
Mindfulness is about focusing on the ___________ ____________ without judgement.
What is the Present Moment
Distress Tolerance helps you cope with a _________ without making your situation worse.
What is crisis
Maria feels angry at her mom for being overprotective, but knows she loves her and worries about her safety. She wants to set a boundary but also doesn't want to hurt her mom's feelings.
What dialectical tension is Maria experiencing, and how could she use a dialectical perspective to find balance?
Tension: Wanting independence and wanting connection
both/and thinking instead of either/or - "I can love my mom and want more space."
After a tense therapy session, Kayla feels anxious and shaky. She wants to avoid numbing out with her phone or food, but she needs to calm down.
Which DBT skill could Kayla use to comfort herself using her senses in a healthy way?
What is Self-Soothe Skills
This provides a way to track emotions, urges, behaviors, and skill use across the week.
What is a Diary Card
What are the 3 states of mind?
What is Emotion Mind, Reason Mind, and Wise Mind
The Self-Soothe Skill encourages you to engage with the world through your ______________.
The pros and cons skill is dialectical, meaning it lets you see decisions from multiple _________.
What is 5 Main Senses: Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste, Touch
What is perspectives.
After a stressful shift at work, Tasha got into an argument with her roommate and then relapsed. Later, she felt guilty and didn't understand why it happened "so fast".
Which DBT skill could help Tasha trace back what led to this behavior and identify points where she could have made a different choice?
Identifying vulnerability factors, prompting events, links in the chain, target behaviors, and consequences.
Brianna feels overwhelmed and wants to skip her next group session. She knows showing up helps her long-term, but she doesn't feel like it today.
Which DBT skill could Brianna use to weigh short-term relief versus long-term goals before deciding?
What is Pros and Cons List
____________ teaches you to reconcile thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that seem in conflict with each other, which helps you maintain a balanced perspective. This shows respect, demonstrates care, and goes a long way to resolving the conflict.
Ex. Understanding someone else's perspective.
What is Dialectics
Core Mindfulness skills include What Skills: Observe, Describe, Participate.
How do you practice Participate?
Participate: Being fully engaged in the thoughts/feelings, and choosing to stay with it or redirect yourself. Ex. Recognize if you are participating in a problem and choose to participate in skills instead.
A distress tolerance skill for distracting is the ACCEPTS skills. What does this acronym stand for?
What is Activities, Contributing, Comparisons, Emotions, Push away, Thoughts, Sensations
During a breakup, Lexi told her partner she never wanted to see him again, then later regretted it and begged him to come back. When she calmed down, she realized neither extreme felt right.
Which state(s) of mind was Lexi in at each point, and how could she access Wise Mind?
When she told her partner to leave: Emotion Mind
When she tried to get him back out of fear: Still Emotion Mind
When she reflected later and noticed neither extreme was right: Wise Mind
After getting upsetting news, Ava can't stop ruminating and feels like she's going to cry at work. She wants a short-term way to get through the day until she can process her emotions later.
Which DBT skill group could Ava use to distract herself temporarily until her distress goes down? Provide examples.
What is ACCEPTS Skills
Activities: focus on work tasks
Contributing: help a coworker
Comparisons: remember past resilience
Emotions: watch a funny video later
Pushing away: postpone the problem
Thoughts: count backwards, do a puzzle
Sensations: hold something cold
This is a key tool in DBT that helps you become more aware of problem behaviors and promotes the use of skills to change those behaviors.
What is Chain Analysis
Core Mindfulness skills include How Skills: One-Mindfully, Nonjudgmentally, and Effectively
How do you practice one-mindfulness skills?
Focus on one thing at a time with your complete attention. Ex. While eating, focusing on the flavors, textures, and aromas of your food. Notice the colors and shapes on your plate.
A distress tolerance skill for improving the moment is the IMPROVE skills. What does this acronym stand for?
What is Imagery, Meaning, Prayer, Relaxation, One thing, step, or moment at a time, Vacation, and Encouragement
During group, Sierra notices she keeps zoning out and missing what others are saying. She wants to feel more present without judging herself for getting distracted.
How can Sierra use the "What" skills to complete her task in a balanced and effective way? (Observe, Describe, Participate)
Observe: what's happening (notice thoughts drifting without judgment)
Describe: her experience ("I'm noticing my mind wandering.")
Participate: fully by bringing attention back to the group discussion.
Jenna is stuck in a long medical waiting room and feels trapped and irritable. She can't leave, but she wants to manage her frustration and anxiety while she waits.
Which DBT skill group could Jenna use to make this difficult moment more bearable right now? Give examples.
What is IMPROVE skills
Imagery: visualize a peaceful place
Meaning: remind herself why she's there
Prayer: connect to a sense of hope
Relaxation: deep breathing or muscle relaxation
One thing at a time: focus on the present
Vacation: mentally "check-out" for a few minutes to a happy place
Encouragement: use positive self-talk
The following is an example of what?
Accepting yourself vs. Desiring Change -
You can practice self-acceptance to recognize your worth and embrace who you are AND You can embrace change to allow for growth and improvement. Therefore, you can create middle ground of accepting your current self while setting realistic goals for personal growth.
What is Dialectical Tension
When practicing the How Skill of a Nonjudgmental Stance, you bring awareness to your types of judgments and when to let them go. There are two types of judgments - What are they?
Distress tolerance skills are built through consistent practice and developing a proactive plan (Crisis and Safety Plan). To develop this plan you do 2 things. What are they?
What is reflect on past experiences and incorporate skills from all modules
When cleaning her room, Alana starts criticizing herself for "being lazy" and ends up quitting halfway through. She wants to finish the task without spiraling.
How can Alana use the "How" skills to complete her task in a balanced and effective way? (Nonjudgmental, One-Mindfully, Effectively)
Be nonjudgmental: "I'm noticing my thoughts of laziness, not facts."
Work one-mindfully: focus on one task at a time
Act effectively: focus on completing the task instead of proving a point or criticizing herself.