California DBT Therapy: What Is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy?

There are many treatment paths that can lead to recovery from drug or alcohol addiction. The key is for individuals to participate in treatments or therapies that are ideal for their needs. Many of today’s best inpatient drug rehab centers feature multiple therapies that complement one another by targeting different aspects of a person’s addiction.

Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), a form of cognitive behavioral therapy, is designed to help people manage their mental health condition and substance use disorder at the same time. DBT is a form of psychotherapy developed during the 1980s. Today, it’s used to treat addiction and various types of mental illness that are often present in dual diagnosis.

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Addiction may precede a mental health condition or occur as a result of it. In either case, it’s crucial that both conditions are treated at the same time for best results. Although addiction and mental illness are separate health conditions, they often impact one another. A mental illness that is unaddressed will make it difficult to manage a drug or alcohol addiction effectively.

During DBT sessions, clients learn how to develop healthy ways to manage their stress and emotions, improve their relationships, and live in the moment. Although this therapy was originally developed to treat people with borderline personality disorder, it has since been adapted to treat many other conditions, including post traumatic stress disorder, eating disorders, and, of course, drug and alcohol addiction. Take this quick bpd quiz at home.

Resurgence Behavioral Health treats people who are living with addiction and mental health conditions. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is just one of the evidence-based treatments we provide to clients with co-occurring conditions. Here, we’ll explore this treatment in detail–how it works and the benefits it provides.

Addiction Treatment that
Just Works

Individualized treatment programs delivered in a comfortable, relaxed setting promote healing in your recovery journey.

How Does Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Work?

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) involves an evidence-based treatment combining cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness practices. Dr. Marsha M. Linehan first created it to treat patients with borderline personality disorder, but it has since been used for various mental health conditions and substance use disorders. This therapy option for addiction treatment helps patients develop mental health skills to improve mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. California DBT treatment includes individual therapy sessions, group skills training, and ongoing support to help patients develop the skills needed to overcome the mental health issues that could be leading to or contributing to addiction. Therapists using DBT utilize a range of techniques, including cognitive restructuring, behavioral analysis, and mindfulness exercises, to help patients identify and modify unhealthy thought patterns and behaviors.

What Are the Six Main Points of Dialectical Behavior Therapy?

California DBT is centered around six main points at the core of its therapeutic approach. These six points are:

  1. Dialectical thinking focuses on teaching patients to accept other points of view. It encourages them to be adaptive in their thinking by promoting the idea that opposing perspectives can coexist. This helps patients not think in such black-and-white terms and instead develop more balanced and empathetic thought patterns.
  2. Mindfulness in DBT teaches patients to be aware and fully present in the moment. It involves focusing the mind on the current reality as it is rather than focusing on certain perceptions or negative emotions.
  3. Emotion regulation focuses on patients learning to identify, understand, and manage emotions effectively. This skill helps clients reduce emotional vulnerability and increase positive emotional experiences.
  4. Distress tolerance entails developing strategies to cope with difficult situations and intense emotions for trauma-related disorders without resorting to harmful behaviors. This includes learning techniques for self-soothing and crisis management.
  5. Interpersonal effectiveness teaches patients how to communicate effectively without negative emotions, reducing conflict and overcoming difficult emotions, to better navigate relationships.
  6. Validation exercises help build self-confidence and improve relationships by acknowledging other people’s knowledge and perspectives.

What Is the 24-Hour Rule in DBT?

The 24-hour rule in DBT focuses on learning to let 24 hours pass before reacting to a stressful or emotional encounter. It is designed to help patients manage intense emotions and prevent impulsive actions that may have negative consequences. The rule suggests that when experiencing strong urges or emotions, especially those related to substance use, patients should wait for 24 hours before acting on those impulses. During the 24 hours, patients are encouraged to use various DBT skills and coping strategies to properly manage their emotions from co-occurring mental health disorders and reassess the situation with a clearer mind after time passes.

How Long Does It Take to See the Results of DBT?

Every patient has unique circumstances that will impact how quickly DBT can impact their thought process. The factors influencing the effectiveness of DBT include the patient’s specific challenges, commitment to the therapy, and consistency in applying DBT skills. However, some patients report experiencing noticeable improvements in their emotional regulation within the first few months of starting DBT. DBT is typically used as a comprehensive treatment program lasting around six months to a year, with many patients continuing therapy beyond this time.

Most patients begin to see more substantial and lasting results after several months of DBT. These results include a reduction in self-destructive behaviors, improved ability to manage intense emotions, better relationships, and an overall increase in life satisfaction. Like most therapies, DBT is not a quick fix but rather a process of learning and integrating new skills into daily life.

DBT Therapy and Addiction Treatment in California

Many of the strategies involved in dialectical behavioral therapy help clients manage their addiction as well as their mental health. Mindfulness is an important part of DBT and mimics many other evidence-based and alternative addiction treatments that also promote purposeful thinking and action. Clients learn how to be mindful of their negative thinking patterns and behaviors in order to prevent engaging further with them.

During therapy, participants practice distress tolerance. In the past when feeling distressed by negative emotions or symptoms associated with their mental illness, clients may have turned to drugs or alcohol as a means of self-medicating. DBT helps clients manage and tolerate distress without using unhealthy substances as a crutch. They learn to cope with their negative feelings or symptoms in healthier ways.

DBT’s strong interpersonal focus helps clients develop more effective ways of communicating with other people. Stable relationships with others can foster the recovery process and nurture a person’s positive self-image. With improvements in one’s ability to communicate and regulate their emotions, they can more effectively manage their triggers to abuse drugs or alcohol.

Addiction Treatment that
Just Works

Individualized treatment programs delivered in a comfortable, relaxed setting promote healing in your recovery journey.

Benefits of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for California Residents

Dialectical behavioral therapy features many benefits for a person who is trying to manage a substance use disorder and mental health symptoms. Clients learn actionable techniques for managing their emotions in healthy ways. They learn ways to change their behavior and even their surroundings to support their ability to prevent relapse.

Clients also learn how to improve their cooperation skills and how to recognize their own individual strengths–strengths they can rely on during times of stress. During therapy, therapists might encourage individuals to strive to reach certain goals. DBT can be highly individualized, which makes it a dynamic treatment that both addiction rehabs and clients find helpful.

DBT Therapy is an evidence-based therapy, so it’s been shown to work from a medical standpoint. It also works well in conjunction with other addiction treatment and mental health therapies. Clients who take part in DBT can also benefit by taking part in peer group counseling, restorative yoga, and other common addiction treatments. By developing their individual skill sets, clients can enhance and improve on their ability to manage co-occurring disorders.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Techniques

Therapists focus on different techniques associated with each of DBT’s core tenets. For instance, they practice noting elements in a person’s surroundings and discussing them in non-judgemental ways. Then, they can apply this technique to more individualized situations. For instance, when having a discussion with a loved one, they may be able to listen and evaluate the discussion with a reduced emotional response. This can lead to more successful communication.

To promote distress tolerance, therapists help clients develop self-soothing practices. Part of these techniques includes breaking the person’s need to soothe with alcohol or drugs, the other aspect is finding healthy practices that the person can rely on to simply ‘feel better’ when they’re suffering distress.

A therapist might assign tasks that instruct a client to practice and then rank various types of self-soothing techniques. This helps them discover the methods that will work best for them. These techniques might involve exercise, yoga, reading, journaling, or some other avenue that allows them to mentally take a break from whatever is causing their stress or distress.

Clients learn how to make improvements to a negative situation. If they can’t soothe away its negativity or positively distract themselves from it, they can take proactive measures to improve the situation. For example, having a heated discussion with a spouse at home could be improved by pausing the conversation and moving it to a park. Walking together in a different environment could render the discussion less volatile.

When it comes to the communication tenet of DBT, clients learn techniques to validate the other individual’s points and, importantly, to remain gentle during discussions. They practice focusing on being light-hearted while talking to others. The more they cultivate the gentle and lighthearted forms of communicating, the more it becomes part of their routine.

Techniques like discussion and role playing can form a substantial part of a DBT therapy session. Clients practice the techniques they learn in therapy as well as outside of therapy as they transition back to their everyday lives. Therapists may also invite them to discuss how the use of their techniques are working back in their lives so that they can refine them further as needed.

Access California DBT Treatment at Resurgence Behavioral Health

Resurgence Behavioral Health offers a variety of therapies designed to help patients overcome drug and alcohol addiction. Our California DBT treatment therapy helps patients learn how to handle the mental aspects of addiction and how to properly manage negative thoughts influencing the addiction. Our caring therapists work with patients individually and in groups to find unique solutions for each patient’s addiction challenges. Our California rehab facility provides the ideal environment to tackle the physical and mental aspects of addiction. To learn more about how our personalized treatment programs can help you or a loved one overcome addiction, please call Resurgence Behavioral Health at 855-458-0050 today.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy at Resurgence Behavioral Health

Resurgence Behavioral Health relies on medically sanctioned forms of cognitive behavioral therapy, including dialectical behavioral therapy to help clients improve their self-management skills. By improving their ability to manage and regulate distress and emotions, they’re better able to take control of their mental health condition to manage symptoms and to keep the triggers to relapse at bay.

Our therapists employ DBT to treat a wide range of mental health conditions that may also involve drug or alcohol addiction. People who are diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder, suicidal behaviors, obsessive compulsive disorder, and post traumatic stress disorder can benefit from this type of therapy.

The key to any successful treatment plan is accurate diagnosis. Resurgence specializes in behavioral health treatment as well as drug and alcohol addiction therapy. This means that we have the ability to effectively treat dual diagnoses in its many different forms. If you are experiencing addiction or mental health issues, contact us today for an evaluation. We can help you manage your conditions and help you achieve lasting recovery.

Addiction Treatment that
Just Works

Individualized treatment programs delivered in a comfortable, relaxed setting promote healing in your recovery journey.