The fundamental goal of DBT is to promote two main goals: change and acceptance. When you combine these two concepts, you learn that you can accept the challenges that happen as a normal part of life. However, you also see how you can make changes and effectively learn to live your life more happily and healthily. 

In DBT, you learn many skills, including mindfulness, emotional regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance. These skills are highly practical in problem-solving and community building. They help you create real change in your life while accepting the difficulties that you have and are facing by helping you improve your motivation to change, have a structure that helps you to change, and have the skills you need to make changes.

Mindfulness

Being mindful is when you are aware of yourself or the world around you. While awareness seems simple, it is a skill that takes time and effort to build. In DBT, you learn to be mindful of all parts of yourself. This includes thoughts, feelings, and actions that may not make sense or even be contradictory. For example, when you are struggling with addiction, you might feel like you want to change but also feel nervous or uncertain about making changes. 

In DBT, you improve mindfulness by working with a counselor who guides you down the path of mindfulness. Both in a group or individual setting, you are asked to be aware of yourself and taught how to do so. 

Learning Emotional Regulation in DBT

Emotions are a normal and healthy part of life. However, when you are struggling with addiction, your emotions can often get the better of you. Dysregulated emotions make it difficult to think clearly, make healthy choices for yourself, and connect with loved ones. 

In DBT, you can learn emotional regulation. Through a series of exercises and with support, you learn to identify your emotions. This, as a foundation, gives you more options when you feel a strong emotion arise. Then, you learn skills that help you to make other choices when you feel a strong emotion. This may include taking steps to decrease the feelings you are having.

Interpersonal Effectiveness

Having a community is important to help you live a happy and healthy life. However, addiction and lack of interpersonal skills often go hand in hand. This makes it difficult for you to build and maintain healthy relationships in your life. 

DBT aims to help you learn these skills. Through a combination of worksheets, practices, and counseling, you begin to understand how to be more effective at both listening and sharing. When you do so, you get the benefits of building authentic and healthy relationships. There are many layers of skills needed for interpersonal effectiveness. In DBT, you are guided through each layer and have the opportunity to practice these skills so that you can take them home with you when you leave treatment. 

Distress Tolerance

Life is a combination of positive and negative experiences. While it is normal to dislike negative emotions and experiences, they are a part of life. Therefore, having a tolerance to feeling distress and other negative feelings is important. This is especially true when you are in recovery from addiction, as distress can often lead you towards drugs and alcohol as a way to dull it. 

In DBT, you learn to be aware and make changes. However, you also learn acceptance. This includes acceptance of your current situation. As you learn to accept discomfort, you learn that you do not have to escape from it immediately. Instead, you can take steps that help prevent further discomfort in your life.