Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is a type of Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT) that incorporates mindfulness and acceptance more than traditional CBT. It was initially developed for working with clients experiencing suicidality and impulsive tendencies and is now used for a wide variety of presenting issues, including depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, psychosis, and eating disorders.
DBT Key Principles:
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The focus in these skills is on increasing awareness and acceptance of our experiences in the moment, both comfortable and uncomfortable ones.
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This module talks about how to influence our mood in helpful ways. For example, if we’re feeling sad, clients learn skills about how to shift that sadness and re-engage with their lives.
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When emotions get very intense, they can make us want to do things that we’ll regret later. Distress tolerance skills help us navigate crisis moments so that we avoid making impulsive, unhelpful choices.
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These skills are all about helping learn social skills to develop and maintain close friendships, including becoming more effective listeners, validating others’ perspectives and emotions, and making assertive requests.
DBT is offered in different tiers of intensity. The full-model, comprehensive DBT involves one hour a week of individual therapy, two hours a week or more of group therapy, and on-demand phone coaching.
WG Psychology doesn’t offer comprehensive DBT, so if you’re looking for clinics that offer the full model, consider connecting with these linics instead:
1. Equilibrium - https://equilibrium.care/
2. Centre for MindBody Health - https://www.cmbh.ca/
3. The DBT Clinic - https://www.thedbtclinic.ca/
WG Psychology offers DBT-informed individual therapy that can be supplemented by group sessions elsewhere. This means that our individual therapists are skilled to provide all of the DBT skills you would receive in a comprehensive program but without the provision of group therapy and phone coaching in-house.
