Dialectical behaviour therapy is an effective counselling approach that is predominately used to help those experiencing intense emotions. Intense emotions are often observed in people with borderline personality disorder, anxiety, depression, trauma, and OCD. Dialectical behaviour therapy helps individuals move away from harmful thoughts and behaviours by working on accepting their emotions and finding more effective coping mechanisms. DBT also involves working towards relating better to other people through various skills courses and deep breathing exercises called mindfulness
Dialectical behaviour therapy, also known as DBT, is a derivative from another approach to counselling called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which similarly works by challenging an individual’s cognitive distortions in order to mitigate their symptoms. DBT is derived from this approach through a technique called dialectic, which observes that something can be both true and false at the same time and aims to incorporate this paradox into the therapy.
It is a type of talk therapy that helps people with mental health problems manage their emotions and behaviour by encouraging the acceptance of present situations, feelings and experiences.
Because dialectical behaviour therapy was designed to help individuals manage their mental illnesses by coping with its underlying cognitive distortions through mindfulness, this approach is generally employed to treat disorders arising from harmful and irrational beliefs. Here are some examples of what DBT is typically used to treat:
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