I do a pretty cool Star War’s analogy for this if I do say so myself.
States of Mind is on the agenda for today….
Tag: DBT
Four Choices
DBT presents us with four choices when faced with a painful situation, we tend to be really aware of two (changing the harmful situation, staying miserable) but not so aware of the others. To illustrate the four choices, let’s take the example of a difficult situation at work. In this scenario, let’s imagine you’re boss engages in small talk with your co-workers, takes them out to lunch, etc. and barely gives you a nod in the morning. Our choices may play out in the following manner: (1) Change the Situation- This would involve different strategies including, taking initiative and starting …
Self-Validation
DBT and CBT are both pretty big on changing how you think as a way of changing how you feel. Both recognize cognitive distortions which are faulty patterns of thinking that develop during periods of distress and/or can act as a catalyst for distress. One component of both therapies involves helping folks change their thinking habits so they are less vulnerable to high levels of distress and are less prone to engaging in ineffective behaviors. One way to challenge ineffective thinking is to engage in self-validation. There are six levels of validation, for this post we’re going to focus on …
Nightmares
Nightmares are not something you may have to live with. There are both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic options that may help reduce nightmares. The DBT and CBT protocols involve a combination of relaxation exercises, writing the nightmare out (with a different ending) and imagining the nightmare (with the new ending) before sleep and throughout the day. If the nightmares are related to PTSD or a trauma event an additional option includes EMDR which is specifically designed to help those with traumatic memories eliminate or reduce the distress associated with the memories and change their thinking about the trauma. CBT and DBT …