Restoring Balance (Part 4 of 10)
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), which was developed by Marsha Linehan, is all about reconciling “dialectical dilemmas” (binary extremes resulting in dysfunction) by teaching specific behavioral skills to forge a “middle path” between those extremes. In particular, DBT teaches the following five skill sets: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, dialectical thinking and interpersonal effectiveness. These skill sets teach the middle path between each of the dialectical dilemmas mentioned in the previous section.
As long as clients are existing and operating at these extremes, it is extremely difficult for them to do even basic counseling — much less trauma work and much less life. That is why DBT as a treatment model is entirely skills focused. DBT teaches the foundational skills one needs to optimize counseling, stabilize for trauma work and then thrive in life — “building a life worth living,” in the words of Linehan. Among dozens of skills that could be highlighted, I would like to present five simple acronyms to help clients find — or forge — each of these middle paths.
This blog post is an excerpt from Trauma stabilization through polyvagal theory and DBT, an article published by the American Counseling Association on September 14, 2021 by Kirby Reutter.
If you would like to learn more about how to use trauma-focused DBT with a variety of trauma-based disorders, I recommend the following resources to get started:
- The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for PTSD: Practical Exercises for Overcoming Trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by Kirby Reutter, 2019
- “DBT for Trauma and PTSD” (DBT Expert Interview series at psychotherapyacademy.org/dbt-interviews)
- Survival Packet: Treatment Guide for Individual, Group, and Family Counseling by Kirby Reutter, 2019
- “The Journey From Mars: Brain Development and Trauma” webinar (youtube.com/watch?v=WSFqHS_axOc)
