DBT therapy is a type of psychotherapy developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan in the late 1980s. Initially, she designed DBT to help people with personality disorders. However, many also use it to manage mood disorders, self-harming behaviors, and PTSD today.

DBT aims to balance opposing beliefs, ideas and viewpoints. In DBT therapy, this approach is termed ‘dialectic’ and is employed to help individuals find a balance between acceptance and change.

The main goals of DBT can be summarised as follows:

• Aid individuals to build skills for managing distress
• Improve interpersonal communication and relationship
• Support individuals to develop better coping strategies in response to challenges/difficulties faced
• Support individuals to increase their overall quality of life.

DBT practice, as such, includes four key components:

• Mindfulness – involves learning to be fully present in the moment, being aware of your emotions, feelings and thoughts without judgement. Mindfulness helps you to increase self-awareness, cultivating an accepting, nonreactive attitude.
• Distress Tolerance – focuses on developing healthy mechanisms for managing emotions effectively. Distress tolerance helps you to identify and label your feelings and emotions, regulate intense emotional states and increase your emotional resilience.
• Emotional Regulation – supports you to manage and understand your emotions effectively. Emotional regulation supports you to increase your emotional resilience, learning tools and skills to regulate intense emotions.
• Interpersonal Skills – supports you to enhance your communication and relationship skills. These include strategies for communicating your needs effectively, setting boundaries with others in your personal and professional life, and navigating interpersonal difficulties you may face.

My Approach as a DBT-Trained Psychotherapist: