Your Own Words
In your own words, how would you describe the Emotional Regulation skill?
- Strategies for managing difficult emotions
- Strategies may be different for every person
- Goal: Return to emotional baseline / state of calm
What are some differences between the Mindfulness and Interpersonal Effectiveness skills?
Being aware of your emotions & needs vs. ability to communicate emotions & needs to others
Your favorite artist is putting on a huge concert in your town. You'd really like to go to the concert, but your mom tends to worry about your safety while unsupervised. You want to communicate your desire to attend the concert while acknowledging and addressing your mom's concerns. Which main DBT skills could be helpful here?
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Mindfulness
What does the DBT acronym stand for?
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
In your own words, how would you describe the Distress Tolerance skill?
- Describes how someone responds to difficult, frustrating, or distressing situations.
- Effective distress tolerance prioritizes physical and emotional safety, seeing situations for what they are, focusing on what is in your control
What are some differences between the Interpersonal Effectiveness and Emotional Regulation skills?
Communicating emotions & needs to other people vs. ability to process & manage difficult emotions
You just found out that your good friend has been saying unkind things about you behind your back. You're feeling very shocked and hurt; part of you is feeling angry enough to seek revenge for what they've done. You want them to feel hurt too. Which main DBT skills could be useful here?
Distress Tolerance
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Can you name any two of the four main DBT skills?
Mindfulness, Emotional Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, or Distress Tolerance
In your own words, how would you describe the Interpersonal Effectiveness skill?
- Being competent at communicating emotions and needs to others
- Capacity and patience to seek deeper understanding of other people's emotions and needs
- Ability to integrate these skills to solve problems
What are some differences between the mindfulness and emotional regulation skills?
You're feeling really sad after the passing of a beloved pet. You feel overwhelmed with grief and desperately look for something to take the edge off. You're considering stealing your relative's bottle of alcohol or going into your sibling's stash of cannabis. Which DBT skills could be useful here?
Emotional Regulation
Distress Tolerance
What is the main goal of DBT?
Building a life worth living.
In your own words, how would you describe the Mindfulness skill?
- Becoming more aware of your emotions as you experience them
- Being comfortable naming emotions and their scale
- Understanding the connection between emotions and the physical body
What are some differences between the Distress Tolerance and Mindfulness skills?
Effectively managing your emotional responses to distressing situations vs. heightening awareness of your own emotions & needs
Your friend just made a joke that you find insensitive and upsetting. All of a sudden, you're feeling a lot of intense emotions but can't find the words to describe them. Which main DBT skills could be useful here?
Mindfulness
Emotional Regulation
What are the two main elements that DBT attempts to balance?
Acceptance vs. Change
In your own words, how would you describe DBT as a concept?
A method of therapy that aims to help people build a life they view as worth living
Maximizing supportive behaviors while minimizing destructive behaviors
Prioritizing personal safety: emotional, physical, mental, spiritual, cultural, relational
What do all of the four main DBT skills have in common?
They are skills that support understanding, processing, and communicating your emotions to others.
They can help you accept the realities of your life while moving you towards the accomplishment of personal goals.
Think of a situation in your life that you found emotionally challenging. How could you have used one or more of the main DBT skills in that situation?
Please provide specific examples in your answer.
Can you name all four of the main DBT skills?
Distress Tolerance, Emotional Regulation, Mindfulness, and Interpersonal effectiveness