Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a cognitive behavioral therapy that it is effective in treating a wide range of disorders including substance use disorders, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and eating disorders.

DBT includes four behavioral skill modules, with two acceptance-oriented skills (mindfulness and distress tolerance) and two change-oriented skills (emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness).

Mindfulness: the practice of being fully aware and present in this one moment

Distress Tolerance: how to tolerate pain in difficult situations, not change it

Interpersonal Effectiveness: how to ask for what you want and say no while maintaining self-respect and relationships with others

Emotion Regulation: how to decrease vulnerability to painful emotions and change emotions that you want to change