Tim's DBT experience ...
This is how I became acquainted with DBT, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.
From 1987 until 2007 I worked as a County Designated Mental Health Professional, CDMHP, for Island County. In that capacity I evaluated people who threatened or attempted suicide, to determine if they should be sent involuntarily to a mental hospital.
Several times a month I evaluated people who had been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder who had been brought to the emergency room after calling 911 and saying that they were contemplating suicide. In the mid-1990s, the case managers of these clients were trained in DBT. Within months these clients stopped calling 911. And, I saw them with their families in grocery stores enjoying normal interactions I had never seen such a mental health success.
I began watching Dr. Linehan’s videos and reading the DBT Skills Manual, First Edition
As a long time practitioner of Meditation, I was amazed that Buddhist and Christian Mindfulness skills were the foundation of DBT. Dr. Linehan was teaching people who were poor, uneducated, with serious mental health conditions, - mindful skills, in a few months, that had taken me decades.
These skills which had long been identified as religious practices were being taught to Graduate Students studying clinical psychology at University of Washington, a public, state University. The reason this was not a constitutional conflict with was that Dr. Linehan was rigorously testing elements of her therapy in the same way that new drugs are tested with clinical trials, to scientifically determine their effectiveness.
I am often asked to recommend a mental health therapist. Before DBT, I could only be very tentative. Finding the right counselor was hard since counseling, mental health therapy, depended both on the skill of the therapist, and the uniqueness of the client.
These days I can say with confidence that a person can be helped by a counselor who practices DBT. It doesn’t depend only on the skill of the counselor and the fit of the client. Like the intuition of a doctor is not critical when an infection has a proven antibiotic treatment.
Then, I was able to help a friend disabled by autism by giving him Marsha's Second Edition and talking with him about what he'd read. The idea that before speaking with someone, he should stop and notice what they were doing and then watch their face to see the effect his words was a revelation. Profoundly changed his relationships.
I experienced a similar revelation by learning how my emotions work and how to become more aware of them.
From 1987 until 2007 I worked as a County Designated Mental Health Professional, CDMHP, for Island County. In that capacity I evaluated people who threatened or attempted suicide, to determine if they should be sent involuntarily to a mental hospital.
Several times a month I evaluated people who had been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder who had been brought to the emergency room after calling 911 and saying that they were contemplating suicide. In the mid-1990s, the case managers of these clients were trained in DBT. Within months these clients stopped calling 911. And, I saw them with their families in grocery stores enjoying normal interactions I had never seen such a mental health success.
I began watching Dr. Linehan’s videos and reading the DBT Skills Manual, First Edition
As a long time practitioner of Meditation, I was amazed that Buddhist and Christian Mindfulness skills were the foundation of DBT. Dr. Linehan was teaching people who were poor, uneducated, with serious mental health conditions, - mindful skills, in a few months, that had taken me decades.
These skills which had long been identified as religious practices were being taught to Graduate Students studying clinical psychology at University of Washington, a public, state University. The reason this was not a constitutional conflict with was that Dr. Linehan was rigorously testing elements of her therapy in the same way that new drugs are tested with clinical trials, to scientifically determine their effectiveness.
I am often asked to recommend a mental health therapist. Before DBT, I could only be very tentative. Finding the right counselor was hard since counseling, mental health therapy, depended both on the skill of the therapist, and the uniqueness of the client.
These days I can say with confidence that a person can be helped by a counselor who practices DBT. It doesn’t depend only on the skill of the counselor and the fit of the client. Like the intuition of a doctor is not critical when an infection has a proven antibiotic treatment.
Then, I was able to help a friend disabled by autism by giving him Marsha's Second Edition and talking with him about what he'd read. The idea that before speaking with someone, he should stop and notice what they were doing and then watch their face to see the effect his words was a revelation. Profoundly changed his relationships.
I experienced a similar revelation by learning how my emotions work and how to become more aware of them.