Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is evidence-based psychotherapy or talk therapy used to treat various disorders. DBT is based on the assumption that most disorders' root cause is a deficit in essential psychosocial skills. Therefore, a cognitive-behavioral approach is used to enhance these skills to treat different conditions (Behavioral Tech, 2019). In modern psychological treatments, DBT has become a prominent talk therapy that has predominantly been used to treat Borderline Personality Disorder.
DBT’s prominence can be attributed to the fact that it emphasizes cognitive-behavioral therapy's emotional and social aspects (Behavioral Tech, 2019). The theory identifies that individuals react differently to certain emotional situations. DBT therefore equips individuals predisposed to react more intensely in an emotional situation with psychosocial skills that help them manage their emotions. Therefore, the emphasis on personal improvement in terms of social and emotional enhancement has made DBT an effective treatment for several disorders. There are several aspects that separate DBT from other therapies.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
First, DBT teaches individuals to accept who they are regardless of their difficult experiences. Individuals are trained to cope with their challenges using different distress tolerance skills (Grohol, 2020). However, most other therapies focus on altering the difficult situations instead of tolerating them. DBT is, therefore, different in that it teaches individuals to accept, tolerate, and find meaning for their distress. Secondly, DBT emphasizes the development of substantial interpersonal relationships between clients and their therapists (Morton, 2013). These interactions enhance individuals' interpersonal skills, enabling them to apply them in emotionally vulnerable situations (Grohol, 2020). The weekly individual and group therapy sessions play a significant role in enhancing interpersonal effectiveness. Lastly, DBT provides an opportunity for individuals to learn more about their emotions and develop skills to manage them. While most other therapies focus on identifying distressing emotions, DBT focuses on how to regulate them.
References
Behavioral Tech. (2019). What is dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)? https://behavioraltech.org/resources/faqs/dialectical-behavior-therapy-dbt/
Grohol, J. M. (2020, May 17). An overview of dialectical behavior therapy . Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/lib/an-overview-of-dialectical-behavior-therapy/
Morton, K. (2013, November 4). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDJi86n9-Rk&vl=en
