Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills
Dialectical Strategies
Presented by: Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes
CEUs are available for this series at https://allceus.com/member/cart/index/product/id/665/c/
Objectives
~ Define Dialectical Theory
~ Review Dialectical Strategies to help clients identify
~ Truth
~ Reality
Walking the Middle Path-Dialectics
~ The universe is filled with opposing sides/forces
Ex. Losses, Changes, Recovery
~ Good/Bad
~ Happy/Sad
~ Right/Wrong (Hans Dilemma)
~ There is always more than one way to see a situation and more than one way to solve a problem
~ Two things that seem opposite can be true
Walking the Middle Path-Dialectics
~ What we do influences our environment and the people in it and they influence us
~ Everything is interconnected in some way (butterfly)
~ Recovery
~ Your mood
~ Changing jobs
~ Meaning and truth evolve over time
~ What is something that was meaningful to you as a child that is not as meaningful now?
~ What is something that is true now that wasn’t true 6 months ago?
~ Each moment is a new reality (beginners mind)
Dialectics Checklist
~ Asked the wise mind “what am I missing”
~ Looked for a kernel of truth in the other person’s side
~ Avoided extremes such as always and never
~ Validated both myself and the other person
~ Accepted reality and tried to change it
~ Made lemonade from lemons
~ Embraced confusion
~ Played devil’s advocate
~ Used a metaphor to describe my own point of view
Dialectics Checklist
~ Treated others as I want to be treated
~ Looked for similarities between us
~ Noticed the connections between all things
~ Practiced radical acceptance
~ Embraced change
~ Practiced letting go of blame
~ Remembered that change is transactional
~ Reminded myself that all things, including behaviors, are caused
Keeping Your Balance
~ Use your wise mind to ask “What am I missing?”
~ Let go of extremes change either/or to both/and
~ Balance opposites by validating both sides
~ Make lemonade. Find the silver lining
~ Treat others as you want to be treated
~ Look for similarities, not differences
~ Practice radical acceptance
~ Practice accepting change
Keeping Your Balance
~ Pay attention to your impact on others and how they impact you
~ Let go of blame
~ Remember that all behaviors are caused
Important Things to Balance
~ Accepting and Changing Reality
~ Validating Yourself and Acknowledging Errors
~ Working and Resting
~ Needs and Wants
~ Self Improvement and Self-Acceptance
~ Emotion Regulation and Emotion Acceptance
~ Independence and Dependence
~ Openness and Privacy
~ Trust and Suspicion
~ Focusing on Self and Focusing on Others
Summary
~ Dialectics is based on the premises that
~ Truth can be found by integrating multiple points of view
~ Reality is ever changing
~ By walking the middle path with awareness of the differing forces we can
~ Radically accept reality
~ Minimize emotional turmoil