Learning Center - DBT Therapy Training

Dialectic Behavioral Therapy Overview

If you want to stop a compulsive behavior you've come to the right place.  I believe there is a tragic flaw in most recovery programs today, which is why the vast majority (92% by some studies) can not stay "sober" for a full year.  Why do the vast majority fail in their attempts to recover?  We believe the answer is simple:  they're trying to fix the wrong thing.  It's very true that the behavior is problematic, even dangerous.  It affects us and the people around us deeply.  But, in our view, they are a symptom of something else.   Focusing on the thing that's most tempting to us is not only a diversion from the underlying issues, but can also keep that temptation alive in our mind. Find out the skills to better manage your emotional states, and you won't feel compelled to do whatever it is you want to stop doing.

Today's more modern approaches including Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) have been used, quite successfully, to treat personality disorders previously believed to be incurable.  Recently, many in the psychology field have been applying this treatment to a wide range of psychological issues with great success.   Those include depression, anxiety, substance abuse and various compulsive disorders.  While I'm not a professional in the field, I have studied CBT and DBT to resolve several issues in my life including a devastating compulsive gambling habit.  I don't consider myself "cured" yet, but do know it's in my future.  This site is dedicated to educating others, like me, who are truly dedicated to ridding ourselves of these damaging behaviors.

There are a number of reasons why we do these self-destructive things over and over again, even knowing how bad it is.  Why do we do it to ourselves?  Because there are things in our lives we simply can't, or don't yet understand how to deal with.  We may have even resigned ourselves to the fact that we'll never be able to resolve them.  For each of us it's something different.  It may be an abusive childhood or relationship, it may have been a traumatic event like war or rape, or quite possibly it's just dissatisfaction with the life we are living, such as an unhappy marriage, unachieved dreams or a chronic depression.

How did we get hooked?  Many of the behaviors began as something social... a feel-good thing.  For example we begin to do things like gambling, shopping, eating, taking drugs or drinking alcohol often for fun and enjoyment.  We associate great times and good feelings with the behavior.  When we're feeling down and can't cope, we desperately want to feel good again so we reach out and cope with the nearest feel-good behavior.  They are an escape and our problems don't exist while we're doing them.  We make an unconscious choice:  face the painful reality of life, or do this fun thing.

At some point, our lives and the stressors become a burden to us.  The more we avoid the issues, the bigger they grow.  They don't go away, they just get worse and eventually snowball out of control.  The worse they get, the more we need to feel good, so we reach more and more for those things.  It's not enough to gamble a hundred or so, we need to gamble with thousands.  A couple of beers with friends isn't enough, we drink all night even alone.  Eventually, these behaviors become so ingrained, we just go on autopilot, we just do it.