Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a structured and evidence-based type of therapy that helps people manage intense emotions and social relationships.

DBT is used to treat a variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Combining cognitive-behavioral techniques with concepts of mindfulness, acceptance and emotional regulation, DBT focuses on teaching people skills to deal with challenging situations and improve their relationships.

Some of our therapists at DC Talk Therapy utilize DBT in their work and have found it to be very effective.

Get DBT Help in DC Today.

To get started, call (202) 588-1288 or email us at info@dctalktherapy.com.

What To Expect

Here’s an overview of DBT’s four main components:

Mindfulness: This involves focusing on the present moment and accepting it without judgment. It helps in becoming more aware of your thoughts, feelings and environment.
Distress Tolerance: This focuses on building skills to tolerate and manage distressing situations without making them worse. Techniques may include self-soothing and distraction.
Emotion Regulation: This helps in understanding and managing your emotions. It includes skills for identifying and labeling emotions, reducing emotional vulnerability, and increasing positive emotional experiences.
Interpersonal Effectiveness: This involves improving communication and relationship skills. It focuses on assertiveness, maintaining self-respect, and building healthy relationships.

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Get DBT Help in DC Today.

To get started, call 202-588-1288 or email us at info@dctalktherapy.com.

Call (202) 588-1288

Text (202) 588-1288

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DBT is present-oriented and skills-based. Clients are asked to practice their skills in between sessions. Those homework assignments might focus on taking specific, concrete steps to master relationship challenges.

Since DBT incorporates many of the techniques of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), it helps clients identify and challenge distorted thinking that underlie negative feelings that prompt unproductive behavior.

For example, patients learn to identify when they are catastrophizing—assuming the worst will happen—in order to avoid acting as if it were the case. They review their own past and present experience for instances of all-or-nothing thinking, seeing everything in extremes of black or white, devoid of the nuance that is more generally the nature of life.

Mindfulness training is an important part of DBT. In addition to keeping patients present-focused, it slows down emotional reactivity, affording people time to summon healthy coping skills in the midst of distressing situations.

Clients keep a diary tracking their emotions and impulses, a tool that helps them gain awareness of their feelings, understand which situations are especially problematic for them, and use the information to gain control over their own behavior.

In session, clients review difficult situations and feelings they faced the prior week and engage in problem-solving by actively discussing ways of behaving that might have delivered a positive outcome.