Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a form of psychotherapy designed to help clients learn to better regulate poorly controlled emotions and to reduce impulsivity and unwanted patterns of behavior that cause negative outcomes in their relationships, work or school, and overall sense of self.

Individual and Group Therapy using DBT is an evidence-based treatment that blends cognitive, behavioral and learning techniques with mindfulness, acceptance and validation approaches. An intensive form of psychotherapy requiring specialized clinical training, it takes a highly structured, skills-based, and multi-modal approach to teaching a variety of emotional regulation, resilience, interpersonal and coping skills that reduce self-destructive behavior and maladaptive patterns of thinking.

Originally designed for those individuals with Borderline Personality Disorder and self-harming behaviour, decades of clinical research have shown the DBT approach to be helpful for many people experiencing depression, anxiety, relationship difficulties and impulsive or unstable behaviours by teaching more adaptive ways of coping with distress. DBT assumes that the person is doing their best but needs coaching and practice to learn to feel better and to build a life worth living.

Maudsley Health Abu Dhabi is pleased to offer both Individual and Group Therapy using DBT and skills training programs utilizing the DBT approach.

The Individual and Group Therapy using DBT may be right for you if any of these are true:
  • You experience painful, intense emotions that you feel unable to tolerate
  • You have repeated, sudden shifts in mood.
  • You become overwhelmed when there is a difficult situation and you don’t know how to calm yourself down
  • You feel suicidal, feel like hurting yourself or feel like doing something dangerous or risky when you feel distressed
  • You overreact to criticism or worry about others leaving or rejecting you
  • You find that it’s difficult to keep your relationships free of drama and going well.
  • You are prone to irritability or frequent episodes of anger directed at yourself and/or others

If you believe this treatment approach, Individual and Group Therapy using DBT, may be right for you, please contact Maudsley Health Abu Dhabi for further information and to make arrangements to meet with Clinical Psychologists and DBT Therapists.