The concepts that work in therapy don’t work because someone has a mental illness. They work because we are all human and we operate under mostly the same principles. What therapy can help with is taking challenging situation and applying straight forward, effective ways of dealing with the thoughts and emotions that arise out of them. The therapies that I find most effective are generally straightforward and embody a lot of common sense. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (or DBT – developed by Marsha Linehan) is one of those therapies. Despite the complicated name, the principles behind what makes the therapy work are remarkably straight forward. I thought I would share one of the skills of DBT that is generally useful but can hopefully be even more beneficial during this time.
New Skills
PLEASE MASTER is one of the DBT skills that I appreciate. The PL stands for “treating PhysicaL illness”. In other words, take care of your physical body when it needs it. This means taking medication and visiting your doctor when necessary. It is hard to feel mentally and emotionally good when we don’t feel physically good! The behavior of taking care of our bodies reinforces the idea that we have value and are worth taking care of.
The “E” relates balanced eating. Again, there is a connection to how we treat our body physically, how we feel physically, and how we feel emotionally or mentally.
“A” is for avoiding mood Altering drugs (yes, that includes alcohol).
“S” is for sleep – balanced sleep is important! Not too little, but not too much either. Consistency in sleep schedule is important to feeling good.
Makes sure you get the “E” for Exercise! Physical activity every day is important.
So far nothing in this list should really be surprising. It’s information that we are told often and repeatedly by many different sources. But how many do you actually hit? When life is feeling negative and out of control, tending to a list like this can help reduce vulnerability to negative emotions (notice the wording though – “reduce” not eliminate!) and increase feelings of control.
But what about the “MASTER” part? This is part of what I love the most about DBT – beyond just surviving, the therapy is designed to help “find a life worth living”. To this end, Marsha includes “building MASTERy” into this skill. We all have to feel some level of competence and a sense of control in our life. Identifying and practicing something that gives us a feeling of accomplishment is a critical component to being as mentally and emotionally stable as we can be.
DBT is a well researched and evidence backed intervention that includes many different skills to help reduce emotional vulnerability, increase distress tolerance, improve interpersonal effectiveness and centers around concepts of mindfulness, “wise-mind” and radical acceptance.
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