BTECH Blog
The Role of Emotion Regulation in DBT (Part 1)
We sat down with Behavioral Tech Institute Trainer, Dr. Sara Schmidt, to learn all about the role that emotion regulation plays in DBT. With emotion regulation being such a central topic to the practice of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Sara shed light not only on how it factors in, but specifically how DBT allows therapists to work with clients to regulate emotions in a way that will enable them to change problematic behaviors.
In part 1, we started by uncovering what emotion regulation is and what it means for clients when they have trouble regulating their emotions.
Zen Mindfulness in DBT
In our research and practice, we have seen the connection between Zen mindfulness and DBT. Behavior therapy has an inherent compatibility with Zen principles. Behavioral Tech Institute trainer and Zen teacher, Randy Wolbert, breaks down for us the seven points of overlap between Zen mindfulness and DBT and how these links came to be.
The Measure of Mindfulness
For the first years of this century, mindfulness-based interventions generated a lot of enthusiasm from the general public and researchers alike. Research on mindfulness treatments for education, health, and mental health increased exponentially (Farias & Wikholm 2016). Recently, however, reviews of mindfulness-based interventions have re-assessed the data, especially because of small effect sizes and a lack of real control conditions (Farias & Wikhom 2016). A serious, methodological problem common to most of the studies is the lack of a standard operational definition for mindfulness (Lutz 2015).
DBT’s Approach to Treating Individuals at High Risk for Suicide
Mental health professionals play an important role in efforts to prevent suicide, as about one-third of individuals who die by suicide had contact with mental health services in the year before their death (Luoma, Martin, & Pearson, 2002). The U.S. National Strategy for Suicide Prevention emphasizes the importance of providing evidence-based psychotherapies (EBPs) that directly address suicide risk to high-risk clients, particularly those with a history of attempting suicide.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Children
DBT for children (DBT-C) was developed to address treatment needs of pre-adolescent children with severe emotional dysregulation and corresponding behavioral discontrol. These children experience emotions on a different level, and much stronger than their peers. Little things irritate them, and emotions may be so overwhelming that verbal or physical aggression occurs.
