Dialectical Behavior Therapy Techniques for Emotional Dysregulation
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Techniques for Emotional Dysregulation is organized by Psychotherapy.net.
Course Description:
When a client enters the room in a palpably agitated state—or experiences chronic emotional dysregulation over time—how do we support their calming response while remaining calm ourselves? In this reassuring training video, DBT experts Drs. Shelley McMain and Carmen Wiebe demonstrate an invaluable array of key interventions from Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), uniquely geared toward helping clients surf the waves of emotional reactivity and suicidal ideation. You’ll find much to implement in this hour-long presentation.
Here, McMain and Wiebe are focused on helping Ashley, a young woman with a history of self-harm and interpersonal tensions. In a series of brief didactic interviews alongside clinical vignettes, they illustrate the effective use of validation, commitment strategies, problem solving, and distress tolerance skills training. You’ll discover the three core tenets of DBT: learning theory, Zen philosophy, and dialectics. You’ll also learn about the significance of an invalidating early environment on a client’s current presentation, and find eight DBT assumptions about clients that can help you stay compassionate. Practical skills are covered as well, including validation techniques; commitment strategies such as devil’s advocate, pros and cons, and more; the AVIS-R skills coaching protocol; behavioral and solution analyses; and making collaborative thought records. Finally, McMain and Wiebe present distress tolerance skills that you can start using with your clients today.
While each host has a different style, they both remain firmly in command of the session while also communicating genuine concern and empathy. By the video’s end, Ashley reports in a separate epilogue that she has a deeper understanding of her anxiety and self-harm, feels more in control of her life, and has abstained from cutting herself for three months.
With its rich set of takeaways, this video offers practical tools to support your work with clients in distress. If you’re in search of integral resources on DBT, emotional dysregulation, or distress tolerance skills, be sure to add this to your library.
By watching this video, you will be able to:
• Analyze the theoretical underpinnings of DBT and its application to emotional dysregulation.
• List various methods to effectively validate your client’s experience.
• Compile ways to incorporate commitment strategies, problem-solving tools, and distress tolerance skills into your client work.
Learning Objectives:
• Discuss the theoretical underpinnings of DBT
• List various methods to effectively validate your client's experience
• Plan ways to incorporate commitment strategies in your clinical work