Question 1

Who is DBT good for?

Accepted Answer

DBT is suitable for people who are prone to overreacting to emotional situations. Such people have intense reactions to emotional situations affecting family, friendships, or romantic relationships. Their level of arousal in such situations is higher than that of the average person. Such people will benefit from therapy that focuses on the psychosocial approach to treatment.

DBT is also effective on people who have been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Such people have extreme mood swings and tend to be always dealing with a crisis. DBT can help them cope with the sudden rush of intense emotions. It enables them to negotiate situations in a way that maximizes their chances of achieving their goals without making unnecessary concessions.

Question 2

How long does DBT therapy last?

Accepted Answer

There is no fixed interval for DBT therapy, but most treatment programs take around six months. The long duration is because the patient needs time to learn and practice the four modules. Most patients start with individual therapy to learn the basics of mindfulness. They later join group therapy sessions to practice the other modules. Mindfulness takes around four weeks while the other three take a minimum of six weeks each.

Question 3

What are the 4 modules of DBT?

Accepted Answer

The four modules of DBT are mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation.

Mindfulness involves helping the client live in the moment and become aware of the emotions acting on them at present. It helps them learn how to calm down using different techniques such as meditation and stillness.

Interpersonal effectiveness relates to how the patient interacts with people around them and how they maintain personal relationships. The patient learns skills such as assertiveness and solving interpersonal problems. The client also learns strategies of relating with others without provoking conflict.

Distress tolerance involves the patient learning how to deal with pain or discomfort skillfully. Clients learn how to accept their current situation without being too judgmental. This skill enables them to tolerate and survive crises by learning the four crisis management strategies of distraction, self-soothing, momentary improvements, and considering the pros and cons of different options.

Emotional regulation involves learning to recognize and label emotions. It also involves reducing vulnerability to emotions, identifying obstacles to emotional change, intensifying positive emotions, increasing awareness of current emotions, and applying distress tolerance methods.

Question 4

How is DBT different from CBT?

Accepted Answer

DBT is a branch of CBT that attempts to address the deficits of CBT. DBT places emphasis on the psychosocial components of CBT by focusing on how therapists can help clients have productive interactions with others. DBT focuses on assisting clients to manage their emotions and reduce conflicts in interpersonal relationships.
In contrast, CBT focuses on helping patients reframe their thoughts in a way that addresses their psychological problems. CBT helps clients use logic and reasoning to manage negative thought patterns and take control of their lives.
Another difference is that CBT is used to treat a wide range of mental illnesses while DBT focuses on illnesses that are associated with negative emotions, such as borderline personality disorder. CBT is effective on depression and OCD while DBT is effective on self-harm and chronically negative emotions.
CBT focuses on reasoning out problems using critical thinking and rationalization while DBT focuses on calming down techniques that help the patient cope with problems and accept them instead of fighting them.
Most CBT sessions apply individualized treatment while DBT is most suited to group therapy.

Who is DBT good for?

Related questions about dialectical (DBT)

Life is complicated. Finding a therapist shouldn’t be.

Newsletter signup

Get inspiration straight to your inbox.