Our therapists offer DBT / dialectical behavior therapy in Richmond, VA

My go-to approach for helping people in dialectical behavior therapy is to orient them fully to the process, as DBT therapy is a very structured, routinized treatment that does not offer a lot of deviation and requires buy-in and constant commitment to change from the client. I like to provide a general overview of the core tenets of DBT as well as the expectations that it has of the client, the expectations of the therapist, and the expected outcomes. I find the best benefit is making sure clients can ask questions and explore the DBT process in its entirety prior to beginning because it increases buy-in. I also like to provide worksheets and a workbook for my clients to use and recommend homework as a great way for clients to practice as well as visually track their progress.

I teach the following tools in dialectical behavior therapy:

• Interpersonal effectiveness skills: Interpersonal effectiveness skills focus on making you the most effective version of yourself within interpersonal relationships. These skills focus on helping you communicate in a clear, direct, objective way and also equip you with ways to establish and maintain boundaries that are healthy within interpersonal relationships and promote overall health and wellness in relationships with others.
• Distress tolerance skills: Distress tolerance skills focus on raising your overall levels of resiliency and ability to effectively manage and regulate experienced moods and emotions through the use of mindfulness and grounding skills such as the use of your body. Distress tolerance skills are diverse and can be used in a wide variety of settings.
• Mindfulness skills: Mindfulness skills training involves using your mind and body to be fully in the present moment in order to increase your ability to effectively regulate and manage experienced moods and emotions. It also includes a focus on the use of radical acceptance skills to be able to effectively accept life's unexpected challenges.

I know a client is making meaningful progress in dialectical behavior therapy when they are regularly completing their homework, demonstrating mastery of the DBT skills, and using them regularly and with minimal prompting from the clinician. I also know that a client is progressing in DBT therapy when they are personalizing the techniques and making active attempts to incorporate them into their daily life, reporting an overall increase in life satisfaction and a decrease in the frequency and intensity of feelings of distress.

Clients can supplement their time in dialectical behavior therapy by participating in a DBT skills group. DBT skills training group therapy focuses on ways that group members are applying the skills learned in therapy in their daily lives. It can be a great way for others to learn new ideas and ways to personalize their therapeutic experience. Outside of group therapy, making sure that you are taking a proactive role/approach to your own self-care and wellness, as well as making sure that you are engaging in healthy and nourishing behaviors, is the best way to maintain steady progress in therapy.

To prepare for their first dialectical behavior therapy session, an individual can do some research ahead of time on DBT therapy and learn about its structure and tenets. Familiarize yourself with the therapeutic process ahead of time and perhaps come to therapy with a list of questions you have or any expectations that you have so that you can discuss them openly and freely with your therapist!