| Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a method for | | | | Meditation techniques that teach people to calmly |
| treating those people who have Bipolar Disorder or | | | | accept whatever happens to them without reacting |
| Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) that combines | | | | emotionally to any crises. Distress tolerance skills are |
| both traditional Western and non-traditional Eastern | | | | specifically aimed at changing behavior patterns for |
| psychological concepts. The method was developed | | | | dealing with incidents that create stress, while emotion |
| by University of Washington psychological researcher | | | | regulation skills help a patient control the level of their |
| Marsha M. Linehan and she has experienced | | | | emotions by, for instance, identifying and labeling |
| considerable success whenever implementing her plan | | | | emotions and identifying obstacles that they put in the |
| of therapy. | | | | way of altering their emotions. Interpersonal |
| Those with BPD have an extremely difficult time | | | | effectiveness skills, on the other hand, include teaching |
| coping with any crises that may occur in their lives and | | | | patients when to resist changes they don't want to |
| they are also highly emotionally unstable. BPD is thus | | | | happen and how to assert themselves. |
| somewhat similar to Bipolar Disorder but the extremes | | | | The weekly individual therapy sessions put the skills |
| of emotion experienced by BPD sufferers don't usually | | | | learned in the group sessions to work by trying to |
| last as long as those of manic-depressives. Linehan's | | | | change specific long-standing negative behavioral |
| breakthrough came when she realized that BPD | | | | patterns, which behavioral patterns are always dealt |
| sufferers were all invalidated as children and that it is | | | | with in the exact same order. |
| this self-destructive behavioral pattern that should be | | | | Given top priority are the parasuicidal - mild to extreme |
| changed instead of the crises being removed. | | | | self-injury - and suicidal behavioral patterns and these |
| There are two parts to DBT and both improve a | | | | are closely followed by the patterns that interfere with |
| patient's mental health: group therapy and the | | | | the patient's therapy program and then with those that |
| one-on-one consultations between a BPD sufferer and | | | | negatively impact on the patient's quality of life. Patients |
| their therapist. These methods are also used for | | | | are also given a chance to practice positive, |
| bipolar patients. The group therapy sessions | | | | life-affirming, behaviors including ways to improve their |
| concentrate on teaching the patient four very specific | | | | self respect and self-esteem, and ways to set and |
| skill sets, which are: core mindfulness skills, distress | | | | achieve their own goals. |
| tolerance skills, emotion regulation skills and | | | | DBT is a viable alternative to traditional ways of |
| interpersonal effectiveness skills. | | | | dealing with BPD and Bipolar Disorder by stressing |
| Mindfulness skills comprise the Eastern part of the | | | | crises management over self-improvement. |
| therapy and pay homage to Buddhist Mindfulness | | | | |