Our therapists offer DBT / dialectical behavior therapy in Gainesville, FL

The pillars of DBT are mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. This is a skills-based treatment model and there is a lot of psychoeducation involved. People that benefit the most from this approach are individuals struggling to control very intense emotions. Difficulty in emotional regulation can lead to suicidal ideation, self-harm, substance use, binge eating, and difficulty managing interpersonal relationships.

Each treatment stage comes with several tools. Some of the tools that I use the most are:

• Crisis coping skills to deescalate intense emotions: dive response, self-soothing with 5 senses, STOP skill, paired muscle relaxation
• Emotional regulation: check the facts with opposite action
• Distress tolerance: radical acceptance
• Interpersonal effectiveness: communication skills, learning to set boundaries, ending destructive relationships

Improvement in emotional regulation can be observed by a decrease or an absence of suicidal thoughts/self-harm/impulsive or risky behaviors, improved interpersonal relationships, more flexibility with changes in life, and overall processing emotions in healthier ways.

It depends — every client is different. One person could supplement DBT with meditation and breathing practices; other people could benefit from other modalities of therapy (group, family, couples) or self-help groups.

Clients need to be ready to practice DBT tools outside of the therapy session; homework is a very important part of treatment.