Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

As part of our therapeutic approach, we use techniques and skills from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). DBT was created as a comprehensive program (traditionally this includes individual therapy + a skills group + phone coaching) to help people manage destructive behaviours and build a life worth living. DBT teaches skills learning in the areas of mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness, to help achieve these goals. We work to integrate relevant DBT skills learning into a broader relationally-focused therapy approach.

DBT asks: Am I living in a way that matches up with my long-term goals? Are these behaviours bringing me closer to or further away from the life I want to live and the person I want to be? 

“Dialectical” means the existence of opposites, and this concept is seen throughout DBT therapy. In its basic structure, DBT is built on strategies related to both acceptance and change. On one hand, we work to accept the difficult, but inevitable, parts of ourselves and of life. On the other hand, we change how we respond to these inevitabilities to make our lives as full, meaningful, and ultimately, as liveable as possible. 

There are four stages of DBT treatment which we consider as we are moving through therapy. Sometimes these stages are linear, and sometimes we need to attend to a previous stage when new challenges arise.