Treatment with DBT

Acronyms and abbreviations are flying at you, and to be honest, flying past you at the speed of light. It’s not enough that you are just trying to keep your head above water. Now everyone that is trying to help you are using all of these letters, and you don’t know what they mean. But there is one abbreviation that you will want to stop and pay attention to: DBT. 

DBT stands for Dialectical Behavior Therapy. You can see why they shortened it. What you will want to know about it is that it is one of the most effective ways to treat mental health issues and addiction. What may sound as a bunch of psychological terminology that you could care less about could actually be something that changes your life.

Breaking It Down

Dialectical means combining two opposing ideas or forces. More specifically, it refers to acting upon or creating change using two opposing ideas or forces. Within DBT, the idea is to use both acceptance and change, two opposite ideas, to bring about long-term transformation. You can learn to both accept things the way they are, but also to be willing to make changes. 

This kind of thinking is powerful, because acceptance brings a calmness and clarity to our situations. We can accept who we are, what we have done, and where we have been. Meanwhile, the willingness to change shows the desire and willingness to change our circumstances, to advocate for something even better for ourselves. Although the two ideas seem to be opposite, they actually work together to create a powerful force for change in your life.

The Basics

The main skills learned in DBT are mindfulness, or acceptance; learning to manage stress; improving communication skills; and learning to regulate, or manage, your emotions better. 

Often if you currently have depression, anxiety, substance use, your mind may not be functioning as it should because of what is going on chemically in your brain. By learning acceptance or mindfulness, you can create a peace or tranquility within you as you learn to take back your control.

You can also learn to manage your stress better and to have more control over your emotions, particularly the way you respond to the things that happen in your life. When you also learn to communicate more effectively, especially with family and other relationships in your life, you can truly turn weaknesses into strengths. 

How DBT Can Help

DBT is what is known as an “evidence-based” treatment for both mental illness and substance abuse. Evidence-based treatments are those with scientific research that shows they are effective. They are not just good ideas or traditions, they are treatments which have been proven to be effective based on actual scientific research and studies with real people.

There are a lot of different ways to treat depression, anxiety, and other forms of mental illness as well as substance abuse. However, research is showing that DBT is one of the most effective and long-lasting types of therapy used for people just like you. Combined with medical treatment, there is data that shows significant improvement as compared to those treated with just medical treatment alone. 

One of the reasons that DBT is so effective is that it teaches you the skills to take responsibility for your own life and your own mental health. Instead of automatically relying of long-term talk therapy, you are given the tools you need to change the way you think and react to stressors and to be able to effectively manage your emotional responses. DBT also teaches you to be a more effective communicator, to advocate for yourself in your life, rather than to just allow life to happen to you.

Transforming Your Life

When you enter treatment using DBT, you have the opportunity to transform your life. All of the things that have happened in your life have contributed to the way that you react and perceive the world. Even things that are unrelated cause you to respond in a particular way, and that is not necessarily helping you. For example, people who have experienced someone leaving their life may be fearful of other people leaving, and may push other people away. Even if those people are just friends or even co-workers, the reaction is the same.

Using DBT, you can learn to re-train your mind so that in the future, your reactions will be different. Using the example above, following DBT therapy, someone like that might be able to see each person and relationship for exactly what they are, and enjoy many close and rewarding relationships rather than continuing to push others away. That is only one example of one type of behavior that can be transformed. Using DBT, you can gain the power to transform your life.

If there is one abbreviation that you remember as you look into your treatment options, it should be DBT. By giving you the skills to transform your own life, you are empowered to create your own story. Not only can DBT help heal you, it is a therapeutic technique that helps you to become your best in your daily life and in achieving your goals. Together with medical treatment, you can learn to make weaknesses into strengths and to achieve your dreams. Embark Behavioral Health uses DBT to help you take control back of your life and create a new future for yourself.

Become empowered. Call Embark Behavioral Health 1-855-809-0409 today. Together, you can re-write your story.