Dialectical behavioral therapy techniques give you the skills you need to address and manage painful thoughts and beliefs to improve your behavior. DBT techniques draw from various methods to form a comprehensive treatment. It is designed to go beyond your addiction and explore the underlying causes of substance abuse.
A dialectical behavior therapy program in Houston provides an environment where you can focus on improving your thoughts and behaviors. A therapist guides you through the therapy sessions. You find out what negative patterns have controlled your life and led to your addiction. When you find healing from your mental condition, you begin your path to recovery.
Four DBT Techniques
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) helps you regulate your emotions and tolerate stressful situations without turning to alcohol or drug to self-medicate. It also helps you to interact with others more positively. You can build better relationships with family, friends, or coworkers.
This achieves this using four primary dialectical behavioral therapy techniques, including:
- Mindfulness – Mindfulness helps you pay attention and stay in the present moment. It teaches you how to accept what is without judgment. Mindfulness allows you to sit in stillness while you observe the activity in your mind. When you know what thoughts and feelings cause your addiction, you have power over them. Mindfulness helps you train and redirect your mind to positivity
- Distress Tolerance – Self-medication is your attempt to deal with stress, anxiety, or depression. This is why you turn to drugs or alcohol time and again. Distress tolerance teaches you to withstand adverse emotional or physical conditions mentally. Whether your negativity comes from within or is triggered from an outside source, you can learn to handle it properly
- Emotion Regulation – Trauma or addiction can cause you to experience emotions such as anxiety, anger, or frustration. Symptoms may include panic attacks or severe depression. Emotion regulation helps you learn how to self-regulate your emotion in any situation. Your therapist guides you as you learn to react to things better than you used to
- Interpersonal Effectiveness – Interpersonal effectiveness is a set of skills you develop to improve different areas of your life. This DBT technique helps you to improve your relationships in your life. You also learn how to establish your priorities in life and distinguish the difference what you want to do and what you should do. You develop a sense of self-respect that keeps you from making bad decisions or engaging in harmful behaviors
What to Expect During Your DBT Sessions
Dialectical behavior therapy usually occurs in a one-on-one setting with your therapist. Your therapist takes the concepts you learn during therapy and apply them to real-world situations. They act as a guide as you learn to navigate around obstacles that keep you from full addiction recovery.
In a group setting, DBT is useful in helping multiple people work on these skills together. Each person can share experiences and provide insights that help others in the group. Once you have completed your individual therapy, a group setting may be a logical next step.
Learn More About DBT Therapy Techniques
If you are interested in learning more about DBT techniques, then contact Serenity House Detox & Recovery Houston. We offer dialectical behavioral therapy as a part of our comprehensive treatment plant. Call us today at 866.516.8356, to find out more about what services are available to you.
