I preface this page with this statement: there is no greater zealot than a convert. I was “converted” to Dialectic Behavior Therapy (DBT) about five years ago when the counseling center needed another skills trainer/ teacher. Since then it has colored my thinking, my approach to therapy and, yes, my life and my approach to my disability.
DBT has been another thing that has “saved” me in this journey thus far. It has awakened my “inner Buddhist” and reminded me that to desire for what I do not have and perhaps cannot have again is the way to suffering. It has taught me to stick to the middle path and shun absolutes as well as to live in the present. (Of course, closer to my own, cultural roots, Matthew 6:28 indicates living in the future through worry is not necessary. Matthew 6:28? Consider the lilies of the field…)
DBT has reminded me what we pay attention to and how we pay attention are actually crucial to our mental health, and even our physical health for that matter. It teaches being mindful (no more than focused attention) of even the most basic of activities. It also is a proponent of gratitude. I quoted someone somewhere as saying happiness is wanting what you have. I would suspect most of us could make a long list of things we have and do want. We have reasons to be happy as well as sad. Hey, that’s a dialectic!
DBT has strong roots in the major religions and schools of philosophy. After all, dialectics is actually a school of philosophy. (If you really want your eyes to cross, investigate Hegelian Dialectics.) But the really cool thing about DBT is it does not expect you to dig up the roots to figure out what it might have to offer. DBT has grown branches and it produces fruit!
The “fruit” to which I am referring is the collection of skills we teach in class. DBT has skills for staying in the moment and not allowing your mind to ruminate on your situation. It has skills for regulating your emotions when they get out of control. It has skills for navigating social situations successfully and perhaps most importantly, skills for tolerating the distresses that come with life and, in our cases, vision loss.
When I was in need of ways to emotionally navigate my vision loss, I was blessed to have my DBT skills “tool box” to reach into and find something useful. Just like Blindness and Visual Services gave me tools to help with reading and moving about in my physical world, DBT gave me ways to navigate in my emotional and social worlds.
If you have not looked at the DBT pages on this site, I would suggest you look through them [check out how to find them below]. I listed the skills as I was either using them or teaching them, so the order is a bit jumbled. If you would like skills listed and explained in a more coherent fashion, there are a number of DBT sites on the web. DBTselfhelp.com comes to mind as a more straightforward resource.
Good luck on your journey. We hope the experiences of those of us walking along, perhaps a bit farther on the road, have been helpful.
Written September 15th, 2018
Finding the pages about DBT
There are several ways:
- To read some of them, click here for Sue’s Best Pages – Part 4 where you’ll find some of the ones that she’s written.
- To find them all, there’s a section on all pages called ‘Categories.’ It will be either in the right-hand column or at the bottom. Choose ‘Cognitive Therapy.’ The pages are backward – newest at the top and oldest at the bottom. I’d advise you to start at the bottom and work your way up. Wish I could change that, but I can’t.
- Another way to find them all is to find the ‘Search website’ box that’s on every page. You can find it in the same way as ‘Categories’ (right-hand column or bottom). They’re also listed backward.