1.  Overview

What is Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)?

This is a type of cognitive-behavioural therapy that was originally developed to treat individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). It has since been adapted to treat various other mental health conditions as well.

Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment for individuals who struggle with frequent intensive mood swings, self-harm and/or suicidal thoughts.

DBT focuses on helping individuals build skills in four key areas:

• Mindfulness: This involves being present in the moment, non-judgmentally observing thoughts and feelings, and practising acceptance.

• Distress Tolerance: Teaching strategies to tolerate and cope with distressing situations without making them worse or engaging in harmful behaviours.

• Emotion Regulation: Learning to identify and manage intense emotions effectively, including understanding the function of emotions and developing healthier ways to cope with them.

• Interpersonal Effectiveness: Enhancing communication skills, setting boundaries, and navigating relationships more effectively.

DBT combines individual therapy sessions with skills training in a group setting. It emphasises the balance between acceptance and change, acknowledging the individual's current state while also working towards positive change. The therapist plays a crucial role in providing validation, support and guidance throughout the therapy process.

What are Dialectics?

Dialectics (in DBT) refers to the ability to hold two truths that seem like opposites and accept that both may be true or valid. The Core Dialectic is that individuals are doing the best they can and that they do want to improve.

What is the Goal of DBT Treatment?

The goal of DBT treatment is to help individuals cope effectively with stress, regulate their emotions, improve relationships, live in the moment and develop a life worth living.

2.    Who Should Attend?

Individuals experiencing emotional distress, especially those who exhibit extreme thoughts, behaviours and feelings. In DBT such persons are believed to be trying their best with whatever skills they currently have, but they often lack the appropriate tools to enable meaningful changes.

3.    Goals of DBT Skills Training

Participants should be able to develop skills of mindfulness, fostering healthy interpersonal connections, managing emotions, and enhancing resilience in handling distress, with a view to reducing:

• impulsive behaviours and challenges in accepting reality

• emotional fluctuations and struggles in emotional regulation

• inflexibility and issues with adapting to change

• interpersonal conflict and stressors

• feelings of emptiness and isolation, or disconnection from oneself and others, and

• judgemental tendencies

This is achieved by:

• recognizing dialectical perspectives;

• encouraging the application of validation (acceptance) and non-judgemental language to acknowledge another person's feelings within the context of their life; and

• substituting unsafe or harmful coping mechanisms with healthier and safer alternatives 

4.     Contents of DBT Skills Training

This programme is based on the DBT Skills Manual developed by Dr Marsha Linehan, ABPP (USA).

Participants will learn mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness skills… all of which are interconnected, and thus empower the individual to manage stress, anxiety or mood shifts effectively.

Kindly note this programme is NOT intended as a crisis intervention or involve partial hospitalisation. Nor is it a substitute for inpatient care / hospitalisation in situations where an individual poses a risk to themselves or others.

5.    Program Curriculum

Each of the modules below is a standalone and does not have any prerequisites.

Mindfulness Skills (featured in every module): aimed at fostering present-moment self-awareness and awareness of others, prompting individuals to practise non-judgmental observation and make effective decisions based on rational thinking or what works, rather than emotional reaction.

Module 1:  Interpersonal Effectiveness

How to ask for things while maintaining relationships and self-worth.

Module 2: Emotion Regulation

Understanding emotions and how they form, and methods to reduce their intensity.

Module 3: Distress Tolerance

Techniques to face challenging circumstances without making them worse, and to embrace the present moment when change is not feasible.