DBT

So at therapy today I was talking about the possibility of me having BPD and that I believe it has a lot to do with me not being able to get over my social anxiety and she suggested me going to a DBT group .I'm doing some research on it right now but I was wonder if any of you guys had any luck with this therapy and if you found any of it useful?

PM Isoko49. No-one has a better grasp of the workings of DBT on this board. And she's super lovely, as well.

I have no experience with it. But I'm on a year long waiting list for it. So if you can bust some free-and-frequent DBT, grab a hold of that and don't look back. Except to tell us on the forums how it's going, of course. I'm eager to know more.

Therapy, any therapy, is only useful if you work at it, be it DBT, CBT, MBCT. All require a dropping of resistance, a letting yourself in to yourself. It is the very act of resistance, repression, keeping things hidden, from yourself and others, the maintenance of secrets, etc. that sabotages therapy. Before any therapy is going to work, you have to have the courage to open up to the therapist, be vulnerable, and in doing so, you open up to yourself.

Thank's you guys. I'm really excited and can't wait to start and holy crap biitchelectric a year long waiting list?That's crazy!I guess I'm lucky I live in a really small town so I guess there isn't as many people waiting to get in the group.From what I was told there should be around 10 people in the group and it should last around 16 week's, 4 weeks per module.Oh and I'll be sure to post about the group and the therapy I'm sure it will be very interesting.

Blimey - only 4 weeks a module? That's not long at all......but it might be how they keep down the waiting list! Most "official" DBT groups run for months, into years. My DBT group isn't an official Linehan one (we call it Living with Your Emotions) but each module takes at least 12 weeks to get through. There's a lot of stuff to get through - so if you find it rushed and don't understand things, it's because they'll be cramming it in pretty quick.

See how it goes - it's helpful stuff IF you work very hard at it and are willing to work on the bits that are difficult. If you find something really difficult, that's generally a good hint that it's something that causes you problems in your day to day life. Saying that - some of the stuff you will find helpful, some of the stuff useless. DBT skills are a toolbox - you pick the bits that work for you as and when you need them. I've been in DBT for 2 years and only now can I say I have a good enough grasp of the skills to work on them on my own. I can't learn much more from the teachers - and half the time I'm the one helping the others out! I'm sticking with it until the end of the summer as we're doing an additional module on Compassion which would be really useful for me.

As has been said, any therapy as the potential to change your life around - but only if you are prepared to put in the work and attempt everything you're asked to do. If you don't do something, think about WHY you don't want to do it, or find it too difficult to try. Understanding the bits you can't do is just as important as doing the stuff you find easy.

isoko49 wrote:Blimey - only 4 weeks a module? That's not long at all......but it might be how they keep down the waiting list! Most "official" DBT groups run for months, into years. My DBT group isn't an official Linehan one (we call it Living with Your Emotions) but each module takes at least 12 weeks to get through. There's a lot of stuff to get through - so if you find it rushed and don't understand things, it's because they'll be cramming it in pretty quick.

Funny you mention the amount of time things are done during the course of the group.I just got done talking to an old coworker of mine who's mother go's to the DBT group.She called her mother and asked her about it and come to find out that her mother is going into the second part of the group and that she's already done with the first half of the group.So from what her mother said it's longer then what my therapist had told me