Dialectical Behavioral Therapy in Nashville, TN
Sometimes, our emotions get the better of us. However, for those who struggle with mental health disorders, intense emotional experiences can create significant difficulty in everyday functioning. Our dialectical behavioral therapy in Nashville, TN, will help you regulate your emotions and get a handle on challenging behaviors.
Contact Arbor Wellness today to learn more about our mental health treatment programs.
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What is Dialectical Behavioral Therapy?
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) is a type of psychotherapy based on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
DBT therapy is based on similar principles of CBT. This is because both CBT and DBT address the unhelpful thought patterns and distorted beliefs that drive mental and behavioral health issues. However, DBT is adapted for those who experience intense emotions.
DBT was developed by Marsha Linehan specifically to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD). BPD is a complex mental health disorder that includes poor distress tolerance, black-and-white thinking, self-destructive behaviors, and severe emotional dysregulation. Because of these intense symptoms, standard CBT therapy alone wasn’t enough.
Since its development, however, DBT has helped people with several types of mental and behavioral health disorders besides BPD.
Not everyone’s experience with a mental health disorder is the same. Sometimes, you need specialized psychotherapy to address your symptoms. Thus, if you struggle with intense emotions that lead to self-destructive behaviors, our dialectical behavioral therapy in Nashville, TN, might be right for you.
The 4 Components of DBT
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) focuses on addressing specific skills to improve your mental well-being, which include:
- Mindfulness: Oftentimes, people with intense emotions struggle to feel grounded or “in the moment.” Their emotional experience causes their thoughts to jump to the worst-case scenarios, leading to poor decision-making and relationship problems. By practicing mindfulness during DBT, you can regain control of your thoughts by learning to allow your emotions to pass.
- Emotion Regulation: Learning emotion regulation is a critical skill for coping with mental health disorders. This skill includes learning how to identify what you’re feeling and why. Emotion regulation also involves understanding that emotions can be fleeting and don’t require immediate responses.
- Distress Tolerance: When negative emotions cause significant distress, you might be tempted to engage in maladaptive behaviors to distract yourself or avoid situations triggering your emotions. However, as you develop the capacity to tolerate distress, you’ll be able to process your emotions in a healthy way.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: Many people with mental and behavioral health disorders struggle with establishing healthy boundaries or having reasonable expectations in relationships. For example, you might expect others to drop everything in order to help you and get upset if they are unable to do so. During DBT, you’ll learn communication and conflict resolution skills to improve your relationships.
Throughout DBT therapy, you’ll work on building these skills with a therapist or as part of a group. In addition, workbooks and homework is a critical part of DBT therapy. While you might feel overwhelmed at first, as you practice your new coping skills, you’ll start to feel more calm and centered.
The 4 Components of DBT
Dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) focuses on addressing specific skills to improve your mental well-being, which include:
- Mindfulness: Oftentimes, people with intense emotions struggle to feel grounded or “in the moment.” Their emotional experience causes their thoughts to jump to the worst-case scenarios, leading to poor decision-making and relationship problems. By practicing mindfulness during DBT, you can regain control of your thoughts by learning to allow your emotions to pass.
- Emotion Regulation: Learning emotion regulation is a critical skill for coping with mental health disorders. This skill includes learning how to identify what you’re feeling and why. Emotion regulation also involves understanding that emotions can be fleeting and don’t require immediate responses.
- Distress Tolerance: When negative emotions cause significant distress, you might be tempted to engage in maladaptive behaviors to distract yourself or avoid situations triggering your emotions. However, as you develop the capacity to tolerate distress, you’ll be able to process your emotions in a healthy way.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: Many people with mental and behavioral health disorders struggle with establishing healthy boundaries or having reasonable expectations in relationships. For example, you might expect others to drop everything in order to help you and get upset if they are unable to do so. During DBT, you’ll learn communication and conflict resolution skills to improve your relationships.
Throughout DBT therapy, you’ll work on building these skills with a therapist or as part of a group. In addition, workbooks and homework is a critical part of DBT therapy. While you might feel overwhelmed at first, as you practice your new coping skills, you’ll start to feel more calm and centered.
What Kind of Mental Health Disorders Can DBT Treat?
Our dialectical behavioral therapy in Nashville, TN, can help you with the following mental and behavioral health disorders:
Our Treatment Programs That Offer DBT
We offer DBT therapy during all levels of care for mental health and dual diagnosis treatment, including the following:
- Drug and Alcohol Detox: Substance abuse is often a maladaptive coping mechanism for underlying mental distress. While our medically-assisted detox program focuses more on managing withdrawal symptoms, you can start DBT therapy at this time. This will help you cope with psychological symptoms of withdrawal.
- Residential Treatment: Our residential treatment program helps you focus on your mental wellness, as you are safe from any triggers or stressors of daily life. This is a great place to build a foundation for your mental health recovery.
- Partial Hospitalization Program (PHP): After residential treatment, you can step down to a partial hospitalization program (PHP). During PHP, you’ll attend therapeutic sessions throughout the day to continue your mental health treatment.
- Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP): Many clients continue to step down after PHP to an intensive outpatient program (IOP). IOP programs offer a structured program of back to back sessions with a flexible schedule. This allows you to fulfill other responsibilities outside of treatment while still getting a high level of care.
- Veterans Program: Many veterans have mental health issues related to combat or other traumatic experiences while in service. Our DBT therapy in Nashville can help veterans learn to regulate their emotions, which are often intensified due to post-traumatic stress.
- Alumni Program: Following completion of a mental health treatment program, it’s important to stay connected to the treatment community. Our alumni program includes peer support, events, and check-ins with professionals.
- Young Adult Program: Young adults are vulnerable to stress and poor mental health as they deal with the pressures of adulthood. Our young adult program provides support for young people struggling with mental health disorders.
What to Expect in a DBT Session at Arbor Wellness
At our dialectical behavioral therapy in Nashville, you can expect the following during your sessions:
- An assessment of your mental health disorder and psychiatric history. An initial assessment will help you and your therapist better understand your symptoms and needs.
- Developing an individualized treatment plan. Your treatment plan can include DBT therapy as a part of a comprehensive plan.
- Improving your coping skills. One of the reasons that DBT is so successful is that it focuses on specific skill deficits. Throughout your sessions, you’ll improve your skills in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
- Role-playing to practice interpersonal skills. Another benefit of DBT is that you can practice your skills with your therapist or within a group setting.
- Coping mechanisms to manage distress and emotions. Throughout DBT, you’ll gain practical coping mechanisms to use when things get challenging. This can include things like grounding techniques and healthy alternatives for maladaptive behaviors.
Overall, your DBT sessions will help you address the specific causes of your mental health disorder as well as the challenges resulting from it.
What to Expect in a DBT Session at Arbor Wellness
At our dialectical behavioral therapy in Nashville, you can expect the following during your sessions:
- An assessment of your mental health disorder and psychiatric history. An initial assessment will help you and your therapist better understand your symptoms and needs.
- Developing an individualized treatment plan. Your treatment plan can include DBT therapy as a part of a comprehensive plan.
- Improving your coping skills. One of the reasons that DBT is so successful is that it focuses on specific skill deficits. Throughout your sessions, you’ll improve your skills in mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.
- Role-playing to practice interpersonal skills. Another benefit of DBT is that you can practice your skills with your therapist or within a group setting.
- Coping mechanisms to manage distress and emotions. Throughout DBT, you’ll gain practical coping mechanisms to use when things get challenging. This can include things like grounding techniques and healthy alternatives for maladaptive behaviors.
Overall, your DBT sessions will help you address the specific causes of your mental health disorder as well as the challenges resulting from it.
Begin DBT Therapy in Nashville, TN
Mental and behavioral health disorders can disrupt your ability to function in everyday life. For many, their symptoms create challenging emotional struggles which impact their relationships and ability to cope with stress. Our dialectical behavioral therapy in Nashville, TN, is here to help you manage the intense emotional distress that accompanies several mental health disorders.
Contact Arbor Wellness today to get started.
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