Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Dialectical Behavior Therapy
There are a few forms of treatment for borderline personality disorder, one of which is dialectical behavior therapy. DBT is a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment for mental disorders that are typically difficult to treat. It was originally developed to help chronically suicidal individuals, but it evolved into a treatment for multi-disordered individuals with BPD or other behavioral disorders (Dimeff & Linehan, 2001).
DBT is designed to treat all levels of severity and complexity and occurs in stages. The primary focus of the first stage is stabilization of the client and behavioral control. The behavioral targets in this stage include decreasing life-threatening or suicidal behaviors, decreasing behaviors that interfere with therapy (such as …show more content…
In order for the therapy to be effective, the therapist must use a balanced combination of acceptance strategies and change strategies, and irreverent and warmly responsive styles of communication. This frequent alternation between change and acceptance strategies is necessary because, in order to change for the better, the client must first come to terms with and accept the fact that change is necessary. This alternation is also required to sustain progress with a client who frequently switches between various behaviors and attitudes. In order for the therapy to be successful, the therapist must also be able to balance between a nurturing style of teaching, coaching, and assisting the client, and a benevolently demanding style which involves dragging new behaviors out of the client and recognizing their existing capabilities and ability to change. If the therapist is not nurturing, the client will most likely not feel accepted, which means that they probably will not respond well to the demanding style that is also used (Dimeff et al.,
There are a few forms of treatment for borderline personality disorder, one of which is dialectical behavior therapy. DBT is a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment for mental disorders that are typically difficult to treat. It was originally developed to help chronically suicidal individuals, but it evolved into a treatment for multi-disordered individuals with BPD or other behavioral disorders (Dimeff & Linehan, 2001).
DBT is designed to treat all levels of severity and complexity and occurs in stages. The primary focus of the first stage is stabilization of the client and behavioral control. The behavioral targets in this stage include decreasing life-threatening or suicidal behaviors, decreasing behaviors that interfere with therapy (such as …show more content…
In order for the therapy to be effective, the therapist must use a balanced combination of acceptance strategies and change strategies, and irreverent and warmly responsive styles of communication. This frequent alternation between change and acceptance strategies is necessary because, in order to change for the better, the client must first come to terms with and accept the fact that change is necessary. This alternation is also required to sustain progress with a client who frequently switches between various behaviors and attitudes. In order for the therapy to be successful, the therapist must also be able to balance between a nurturing style of teaching, coaching, and assisting the client, and a benevolently demanding style which involves dragging new behaviors out of the client and recognizing their existing capabilities and ability to change. If the therapist is not nurturing, the client will most likely not feel accepted, which means that they probably will not respond well to the demanding style that is also used (Dimeff et al.,