Improving Mental Health: DBT and CBT

Since 2012, when I first missed a significant portion of work and eventually resigned my teaching position, partially due to symptoms of bipolar, I’ve regularly seen a therapist. The three types of therapy I’ve used have been CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavorial Therapy), and Narrative Therapy. CBT is one of the most practiced forms of therapy, and DBT is considered a branch of CBT. You can read about the differences and similarities in “What’s the difference between CBT and DBT?” on the PsychCentral website. Narrative Therapy has some similarities to both DBT and CBT, and it is helpful for many. DBT has been the most helpful for me, so I’ll spend a few posts writing about some of its elements.

In 2015, after I was hospitalized for a mixed state (depression and hypomania), I did an eight week DBT skills group. These skills have especially helped me manage depression and anxiety, but several are also helpful for managing manic episodes. During this group therapy, one of the other participants said, “Everyone should learn this,” and the other people in the group agreed. So, whether you have a mental illness or not, I think you’ll find some of the information on DBT helpful.

The four components of DBT are:

• Mindfulness
• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Distress Tolerance
• Emotional Regulation

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy involves identifying and changing cognitive distortions including:

• All or Nothing Thinking
• Overgeneralization
• Mental Filters
• Discounting the positive
• Jumping to Conclusions
• Magnification
• Emotional Reasoning
• Should Statements

Since there is a ton of information about DBT and CBT on the internet, so I'll focus on things that have worked well for me and provide resources if you're interested in going more in-depth. Good places to start learning about DBT and CBT are, "An Overview of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy," from the PsychCentral website and "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy" from the SimplyPsychology website.

Some helpful resources for DBT and CBT include:

The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook by: Matthew McKay, Jeffrey C. Wood, and Jeffrey Brantley

The Feeling Good Handbook by David Burns

Thanks for reading!