DBT guide
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, usually called DBT, is a structured approach for building skills to manage intense emotions, tolerate distress, stay present, and navigate relationships.
What DBT is
DBT was developed by psychologist Marsha M. Linehan. The approach grew from work with people experiencing severe emotional distress and suicidal or self-injurious behaviors, and it is now used more broadly for problems involving emotion regulation, impulsivity, relationships, and coping.
The word dialectical refers to holding two truths at once. You can accept yourself as you are and still work toward change. You can validate that a feeling makes sense and still choose a response that protects your future.
DBT is active and skills-based. It connects what happens inside you with what you do next, then gives you concrete ways to practice a different response.
The four skills modules
The skills overlap and reinforce one another. You may use more than one in the same situation.
Pay attention to the present moment with less judgment. Mindfulness can help you notice thoughts, feelings, body signals, and urges before they take over.
Useful for: pausing, observing patterns, and choosing where to place your attention.
Get through a crisis or painful wave without making the situation more dangerous or damaging. These skills focus on surviving the moment and reducing escalation.
Useful for: urges, conflict, panic, grief, and situations you cannot immediately change.
Understand emotions, reduce vulnerability to intense reactions, and make room for feelings without letting them dictate every action.
Useful for: identifying patterns, building routines, and responding rather than reacting.
Communicate clearly, ask for what you need, set boundaries, and maintain self-respect while navigating important relationships.
Useful for: difficult conversations, saying no, repair, and balancing competing needs.
Who DBT may help
DBT may be useful when emotions feel too intense, reactions feel hard to interrupt, or relationships repeatedly become sources of pain. It can support people with a range of concerns, including anxiety, depression, trauma-related symptoms, mood changes, impulsive behavior, self-criticism, and chronic relationship conflict.
You do not need a particular diagnosis to learn DBT skills. A consultation can help determine whether this kind of structured support fits your goals and current level of care.
Comprehensive DBT and coaching
Comprehensive DBT is a specialized treatment program that commonly includes individual therapy, a skills-training group, between-session coaching, and a consultation team for clinicians. It is often used when someone needs a coordinated, higher level of support.
Munier Mental Health offers DBT-informed coaching, not a comprehensive DBT program. Coaching is individual and focused on learning, practicing, and applying skills to everyday situations. It does not include a DBT skills group, 24/7 crisis coaching, or a substitute for psychiatric, medical, or emergency care.
If you are experiencing an immediate safety concern, call or text 988, call 911, or go to the nearest emergency department.
What coaching can look like
Sessions are collaborative and practical. We start with the situation that brought you in, identify the emotions and urges involved, choose a skill, and make a small plan for using it outside the session.
Slow down the chain of events, thoughts, sensations, and actions.
Focus on one skill that fits the moment and your goal.
Try the skill, notice what got in the way, and refine the plan.
Questions people ask
Further reading
These organizations provide additional education about DBT, mental health conditions, treatment, and crisis support.
Take the next step
Use a free 15-minute consultation to ask about goals, availability, location, and the kind of support you need.