#dialectical behavior therapy

[phoenix-positivity]

Here are some links to worksheets about anger (you can download the pdfs for free and print them):

The cycle of anger

The anger iceberg

This worksheet discusses when your anger might have become more of a problem rather than a healthy emotion.

A small introduction to anger management

The 'anger thermometer' to identify your own gradations of anger

Anger warning signs

Anger stop signs (intended for children but I like this too)

Worksheet to identify triggers

A summary of anger management skills

Coping skills to deal with anger

The 'urge surfing' technique

Improving the moment when in distress worksheet

Distress Tolerance Skills (self-soothe with senses / distractions)

Distracting from distressing emotions worksheet

Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills (communicating needs, fostering positive interactions and self respect)

Communicating needs worksheet

Emotional Regulation Skills (opposite action, fact-checking, paying attention to bodily needs, guiding focus back to positivity)

Brief explanation of some relaxation techniques to use when angry

Questions to ask yourself about anger (good journalling prompts)

The 'fair fighting rules' aka how to engage healthily in arguments

Template for keeping an 'anger diary'

Template for keeping a 'coping skills log'

[elainiisms]

[eliserzilber]

TIPP

Use this skill when you are overwhelmed by intense emotions or are feeling the urge to self-injure.

*If you’re in crisis and are having suicidal thoughts please call a Crisis Hotline! (Call 988 in the US)

T - Temperature: To relax fast or distract your mind with sensation, hold an ice pack to your cheeks or eyes or dunk your face in a bowl of ice water for at least 30 seconds to activate your Diver Reflex*.

*If you have high blood pressure, talk to your doctor before trying.

I - Intense Exercise: Doing a few minutes of vigorous exercise will release Endorphins. Try a few minutes of Jumping Jacks or running in place (or around the block). Play your favorite fast paced song and dance it out.

P - Paced Breathing: Breathe deeply into your belly, expanding your lungs as much as you can. Pace your inhales and exhales to 5-6 per minute. Then make your exhales longer than your inhales (5 seconds in, 7 seconds out).

*Try a 60 bpm Metronome track from your music streaming app or YouTube for pacing.

P - Paired Muscle Relaxation: Breathing deeply, tense your muscles (not so much that you cramp up) section by section, move your focus from your feet up your body. Tense up with every inhale, relaxing and melting with every exhale.

*More DBT guides here*

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

That one trend but it’s one increment at a time bc rejection sensitivity dysmorphia has me scared of looking like an idiot with 4 notes ahaha

50 notes & I will

drink more water (easy since I drink like none ever)

regularly post lil hydration reminders

set a new goal

[worldwidewet]

Can I have advice on how to advocate for myself?

I am one of the alters in a system, I think I front the most often after the host, and I have met a mental health professional I feel very unsure of.

I have developed some skills to stop and analyze situations before I act thanks to a DBT skill course, but I have currently only come to the "stop" and "notice I feel bad" stage in this analysis. Anything else feels fuzzy and difficult.

On one hand, he seems like he is genuinely interested in our general wellbeing.

On the other hand, in my opinion, he seems to be pushing towards integration without having us on board with that. I understand this is not necessarily bad, and that I am in a strong emotion right now, but it is setting off all of my alarm bells. I feel like he isn't listening. I feel like he doesn't understand. I feel like he is pushing us to talk about ourselves in a very specific way as to go towards integration. Some things that I can't put into words makes me feel like we are like a project to him, a problem to be solved, and that disagreeing would make him personally upset. I recognize logically that I could be wrong, and that my impulse to change care provider is just that, an impulse guided by a strong emotion.

Okay, therapy speak nuance over. Cancelling therapy forever. In self defence...

Basically, how do I figure out if this is a real threat or a perceived threat and how I should act in order to get to a place that is actually safe?

(I'm tagging this with different related tags in order to find help, I'm not claiming all these tags apply to me)

[borderline-corner]

DBT Resources Masterpost

Helpful resources for all your Dialectical Behaviour Therapy needs! I will be updating this post as I find more.

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook by M. McKay, J. Wood and J. Brantley : A clear and concise guide to the basics of learning DBT skills.

The DBT Travel Guide app on the App Store and on Google Play: Quick list of DBT skills to try for your specific emotion, also includes an interface for diary cards.

DBTSelfHelp.com: A variety of tools including videos, articles, flash cards, DBT skills, etc.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy Official Site

Therapist Aid DBT Worksheets

DBT Tools: An index of DBT skills.

Psychology Today: Search engine for mental health professionals in your area with the ability to filter for specific issues and therapy modalities.

[handageddon]

What would be a good way for you to recover? I can see how just not knowing would be retriggering

Yeah and in the case of someone dealing with very specific symptoms, the focus of the therapy would be how to deal with the emotions. But I feel like I'm being turned down by the therapists when I don't have the "correct" emotional responses so they don't have anything to "correct". They just go... well, I can't help you with that. They think I'm holding my cards too close to my chest, but I've never suppressed an emotion in my life I legit just am clueless.

I probably just need a team of people to call me at scheduled points in the day to coax/ch me through what a normal life is like, or as close to normal as we can salvage.

But I don't think that kind of thing exists! At least not on my budget.

Somatic experiencing, internal family systems, and schema therapy... I just fail to see them as helpful because I don't experience my struggles as PTSD flashbacks.

I only get emotional when I'm required by the therapist to explain that gap in my knowledge, and them they get to go through the motions of "teaching" me the soothing skills that I already know.

Idk, maybe it's just the way I communicate my needs is entirely wrong. When I say I want to recover from child abuse. For a lot of people that probably STARTS with cbt/dbt but maybe since that's what I sign up for, all the therapists can do is wonder why I signed up and then try to "gotcha!" me into being emotional.

[thedialup]

[florealstudy]

🎃 October Journal 🎃

👻 Studies: I focused on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) mindfulness skills. It's always good to study DBT, I love this approach so much!

🍂 Mental health: I've had my ups and downs, but it's been a good month in general. Spent my birthday studying at the local library and then went to a coffee shop. It was a great day! I have the tendency to stay inside my house, so being able to study somewhere different made me feel good.

🕸️ Songs, movies, books & tv shows: I spent the month watching Love & Death, Candy and The Girl from Plainville. Also, me and my best friend (@lonelyasachurch luv u!) watched spooky movies together. She's not into horror but watched Scream with me and enjoyed it!

🍬 I’m proud of myself for… never giving up even when I'm going through hard times, allowing myself to have fun on my birthday and being able to go out of the house to study!

[bpd-aware]

[tears-of-amber]

If you are like me and live with BPD, I’m sure you may have at least heard of DBT. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is the type of therapy that has really turned my life around, so I’d like to make a Masterlist of resources both free and with cost.

FREE RESOURCES FOR LEARNING DBT:

A great website that teaches the skills is ⬇️

A great YouTube channel that has videos of Marsha (the creator of DBT)

A great podcast that teaches and discusses the skills is:

DBT RESOURCES THAT COST MONEY:

This is a great easy to learn card deck with the skills explained in concise ways.

This is a great workbook. It was made BY the lady who CREATED DBT.

This is a great book that delves into DBT at its core (and isn’t so much activity focused vs. explaining each skill)

That’s it! I’m not saying this type of therapy is FOR SURE going to be the right therapy for you, but it’s SO worth trying if you have Borderline Personality Disorder like me.

Hopefully this helps someone!

-Velvet Rose Kthonia 🥀

[eliserzilber]

ACCEPTS DBT Worksheet

*Corresponding DBT Skill*

This worksheet is a way for you to plan ahead and show up for yourself when you're in distress.

Print this out, fill it in and have it as a tangible list of things to take your focus off the emotional storm and avoid harmful coping mechanisms. 

List activities that will take your focus in the moment (for example draw, play a video game, put together a small puzzle)

List things you can do with someone who calms you (for example help with washing dishes, fold laundry, cook a meal)

List 2 times before when you were struggling emotionally and got through it (to remind yourself that you have before and can survive again)

List things you can do to activate opposite emotions (for example watch some funny videos to counteract sadness with laughter)

List numbers you can call for help (For example a crisis hotline, therapist, or loved one)

Bonus Project: Self-Soothing Tool Box 

Fill a small box with anything that you can grab in a moment of stress to occupy your 5 senses.

This can include things like fidget toys, stress balls, mini plushies, small puzzles (25 pieces or so), a laundry sheet or perfume that calms you, a print out of the lyrics to one of your favorite songs, photos of loved ones, a Box Breathing guide, post-it notes with helpful affirmations, and even sour candies or mints.

The goal here is to have a go-to collection of self-soothing assistants so you're not searching and struggling in the midst of your distress.

*More DBT Skill guides here*

[veemarcia]

DBT Skills with Ragatha: Half-Smile Skill

Gonna try doing a series where Ragatha teaches and demonstrates different Dialectical Behavioral Therapy techniques, known as skills!

Part 2

For distress tolerance, make the choice to accept reality with your body rather than staying willful, refusing to tolerate the moment, or masking your emotions. A fake smile tells your brain to shove the emotions down, while a half-smile tells your brain things will be ok, and decreases intensity of the emotion.

1st. Relax your face from the top of your head down to your chin and jaw. Let go of each facial muscle (forehead, eyes, and brows; cheeks, mouth, and tongue; teeth slightly apart). if you have difficulty, try tensing your facial muscles and then letting go.

A tense smile is a grin (and might tell your brain you are hiding or masking your real feelings).

2nd. Let both corners of your lips go slightly up, just so you can feel them. It is not necessary for others to see it. A half-smile is slightly upturned lips with a relaxed face.

3rd. Try to adopt a serene facial expression. Remember, your face communicates to your brain; your body connects to your mind.

[livebpd]

Last night we started reading the DBT workbook as a polycule. The section we read was how to R.E.S.T.

R. Rest, pause, breathe, take a break, move away from the conversation

E. Evaluate, what is happening, what am I feeling, how might the other person be feeling

S. Set intentions, decide what would be your best course of action

T. Take action, follow through with your plan

Repeat until the issue or excessive emotional response is quelled. You might have missed critical information.

[notesfrompanihida]

ill be starting dbt for my bpd in a month and i dont know how to feel about it. its in a group setting which means youre not likely to get any real personalized work done since the information will be very generalized. i dont know what to or not to expect. my feelings about therapy and treatment are very complex and would not land well amongst people who go crazy for "self improvement", but thats not even my biggest issue. i have other things wrong with me besides bpd. how can i be certain that the people around me will not become immensely disappointed each time i fuck up because "youre in therapy now you should be better". those 10 weeks of group work arent likely to fix much and yet i have a feeling that i will be expected to act perfect from the moment they start. i hate how much of this therapy is seen as something that will "fix" me. everybody in my life has made me feel broken and worthless. i almost want to refuse treatment out of spite because i am angry that so many refuse to see me as a person unless im in active recovery with little risk of falling back on old behaviours

[thevampiremarie]

TW: mental health stuff, abuse, rape, suicide attempts, self harm

A little something personal:

On this day last year, the amazing therapist in my intensive outpatient therapy program told me that they would be declining to renew my borderline personality disorder diagnosis.

In shorter hand, that means that one year ago, I officially recovered from BPD.

I have been in therapy since I was 16, I’m 22 now. I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder when I was 17. I’ve been on countless medications.

My intensive outpatient therapy program was 3 months of intensive therapy. I was doing 10 hours of therapy a week, in addition to working 40 hours a week and going to 3 college classes that semester.

2021 was one of the worser years of my life. (In order) I attempted suicide and was hospitalized, I was raped, I was broken up with by a long term partner (not my rapist + who I lived with at the time) and had to move across the country, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder, I was dealing with pretty severe flare ups of my physical disability and had to get *regular steroid injections into my spine, I dropped out of college for the second time because of the move, I fell back into my self harm addiction.

Now, let’s move to 2022-2023.

There were all sorts of odds against me, but somehow, I crawled my way into creating a more stable, healthy life where I life now, into new friendships, a new university, a new job, I enrolled myself in that intensive outpatient program and I advocated for my mental and physical health to a variety of doctors who were intent on telling me I wasn’t disabled because sometimes I can walk, and to the insurance company convinced that I could go without the immunosuppressants my doctor prescribed and refused to cover them.

Recovery from BPD is possible. It’s hard work, some of the hardest work I’ve done, and recovery won’t ever stop. The borderline wiring in my head and the damage done to my personality cannot ever be undone. But through therapy, I have been able to overcome many of symptoms and drop below meeting 5 of the diagnostic criteria for BPD. At one point in my life, I met all 9. I will always wrestle with all the negative internal shit and some day, I might even slip back into BPD. But I will always do my best to fight my way back. Recovery from BPD is very much like recovering from addiction; you can stop engaging in that specific addiction, but you never lose the addictive pathways in your brain.

I am IMMENSELY proud of myself and all the work I’ve done.

I want to thank Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Dr. Marsha Linnehan (who created it). DBT saved my life and continues to save my life. I have done it consistently since I was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and not only has it helped me recover from BPD, it also helps me manage and function with my autism. I use DBT skills everyday and I am so grateful that DBT helps me be someone who is a positive influence in other people’s lives, that DBT has taught me self awareness, emotion regulation, cognitive empathy, and accountability. I wouldn’t have the close relationships I have today (that have also saved my life) without the skills DBT has helped me grow.

I also want to thank all of my friends who’ve stuck with me, helped me, taken me in, and given me something to live for. It was friends who helped me move away from the city where I’d been raped in and broken up in. It was friends who helped me find apartments, who said I could come over when I was feeling suicidal, who have supported me through getting my autoimmune disorder diagnosis and fighting my insurance company for immunosuppressants. I love you all very, very, very much.

I hope to see y’all here in 2024 🥹🫡🌹