Actually, many of you many not know that I am a social worker, specifically with a Masters and that I now am working as a therapist in a community mental health agency. I'm very lucky to be working with a co-worker who has extensive experience in Dialectical Behavior Therapy or DBT as we call it for short. She has been leading a DBT group for some time now and when another of my co-workers left I was honored that she asked me to co-lead with her!
So, I have been co-leading for a few months now. Our sessions are 2 hours long, once per week and last for 8 sessions. There are 4 different "areas" or "topics" that are focused on each cycle. This cycle we're on is that last new one for me to experience and personally, for me one of the most helpful (Emotion Regulation). It really helps me to understand how emotions function and to recognize when they go awry. I already knew much of the information before, but DBT organizes it into one cohesive material.
So, today's class was actually focused on Distress Tolerance (who doesn't need that!) or probably more commonly thought of as stress management, but in DBT the focus is on managing your emotional intensity so it doesn't rise so high that you can't function and achieve your goals, but still be aware of them and how you're being affected, instead of "numbing" yourself or being "mindless." One way this is achieved is by using simple skills to bring down your stress level and in Distress Tolerance this is generally helped by focusing on other things or activities.
Today was a fun day because we had just finished "Self-Soothing" and gave them all a small package of various items to self-soothe with, such as candles, relaxing teas, lotions, and calm music.
Today we learned the IMPROVE skills. IMPROVE is an acronym to help them remember the skills easier when they are away from their books. These skills are useful, but can also seem cliched because parents or caregivers often will tell someone to "imagine a happy place" or "listen to happy music" when a person is down or sad instead of listening to them and validating their feelings.
However, they are still very useful skills and the last one in IMPROVE is Encouragement. Basically, tell yourself things like, "I think I can" "I can take this one step at a time" "I am making a good effort" etc. You can see how it might seem cliched right?
After work I was writing up my notes and listening to my Pandora Radio
on my iPhone
when "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World
came on. As I started singing along I really listened to the lyrics and realized that this was the PERFECT encouragement song for my clients! See the lyrics below:Hey, don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on.
Just try your best, try everything you can.
And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away.
It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).
Hey, you know they're all the same.
You know you're doing better on your own, so don't buy in.
Live right now.
Yeah, just be yourself.
It doesn't matter if it's good enough for someone else.
It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).
It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).
Hey, don't write yourself off yet.
It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on.
Just do your best, do everything you can.
And don't you worry what the bitter hearts are gonna say.
It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).
It just takes some time, little girl you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything (everything) will be just fine, everything (everything) will be alright (alright).
If you'd like to learn more about DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) find more information at Amazon
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