Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Learn how to understand and manage your emotions effectively and improve your relationships with others by building healthy coping skills.

The skills we discuss in the DBT Skills Group will help you build on your inner strengths and resources to improve your overall health and peace of mind.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills Group

DBT is an evidence-based treatment and a life enhancement program that was developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan. It has scientifically proven effective for improving frequent and intense emotional difficulties, relationship problems, and impulsive and harmful behaviors. DBT is the gold standard treatment for individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder. It is also effective in treating many other concerns including depression, anxiety, trauma, addictions, eating disorders, and personality disorders. The goal of DBT treatment is to help individuals manage their emotions effectively, improve relationships, live in the moment, and develop a life worth living. Therefore, its benefits can be useful for anyone who is trying to achieve balance in their lives.

What does “dialectical” mean?

<Dialectical> means an integration of opposites. The main dialectic in DBT is balancing acceptance and change. DBT therapists accept clients as they are while also acknowledging that they need to change in order to reach their goals. DBT combines acceptance and change strategies to help clients learn specific skills to manage their emotions skillfully and engage in more effective behaviors. This can gradually create a life worth living.

FSHN DBT Treatment

Our Mental Health and Wellness Department is the first and only mental health clinic in Kuwait to provide comprehensive DBT treatment for teens and adults. We utilize all components of the comprehensive DBT treatment including individual psychotherapy, DBT skills training groups, phone coaching, and parent consultation for adolescents. Our DBT therapists modify treatment to clients' unique needs and life circumstances. We address problems that interfere with clients' quality of life, encourage self-acceptance, and help clients take steps toward building a life they want to live. Unlike practices that provide only individual DBT therapy, our treatment program adheres to the evidence-based model of DBT that has shown the strongest treatment outcomes.

DBT Skills Training Group

DBT skills are taught in weekly group sessions in an educational format. Most people benefit from taking the skills training twice which allows them to reinforce the skills they learn. Group leaders assign homework to help group participants practice the skills in their daily lives.

Four sets of DBT skills are taught in a structured DBT group:

1. Mindfulness is a practice that aims to reduce suffering and increase happiness, improve self-control, and enhance awareness in the moment.
2. Distress Tolerance helps you get through difficult emotions, survive crisis situations, and accept life circumstances that cannot be changed.
3. Emotion Regulation helps you understand and change emotions and decrease emotional suffering.
4. Interpersonal Effectiveness involves effective communication skills that help you build healthy relationships while maintaining self-respect.

Benefits of DBT Skills Training Groups

• Learning skills in a group setting allows people to receive the support and encouragement of the other participants.
• Participants are able to see that other people are going through similar experiences, which can help them feel connected.
• By seeing a group participant who is successfully coping with a problem, other participants can be reminded that there is hope and healing is possible. As each person progresses, they can in turn serve as a positive role model and support figure for others. •This fosters feelings of success and connection.
• Group skills training is cost effective.
  •Group skills training allows people to gain a better understanding of their emotions, thoughts, behaviors, and values and practice DBT skills in a safe and supportive environment.
• By working in a group setting, the therapist can see first-hand how each person responds to others in social situations and provide valuable feedback to each participant.

FSHN DBT Skills Training Group For Adults (Currently Offered Online)

Goals of this group are for participants to gain skills relating to mindfulness, building effective interpersonal relationships, managing emotions, and improving their capability to tolerate distress. Four sets of DBT skills will be taught during the -18week skills training group:

• Group Orientation and Mindfulness - 3 sessions
• Distress Tolerance - 5 sessions
• Emotion Regulation - 6 sessions
• Interpersonal Effectiveness - 4 sessions

By participating in the FSHN DBT Skills Group regularly, you will learn the DBT skills in a supportive, safe, and confidential environment. New participants can join the group at the beginning of each module (section).

Individual therapy is a requirement of group enrollment: You can work with a therapist at either FSHN or another clinic in Kuwait to be eligible for the DBT Skills Group.

We are excited to announce our new DBT skills training group for teenagers and their families. This skills group will provide DBT skills that are adapted to fit youth's emotional and cognitive development. It will teach teens aged 13-18 and their families effective skills to reduce their emotional and behavioral problems and improve relationships.

Five DBT skills sets that will be taught during the skills group include:

• Core Mindfulnes
• Distress Tolerance
• Emotion Regulation
• Interpersonal Effectiveness
• Walking the Middle Path

Families will learn valuable skills from each module to enhance family functioning.