Popular tools from DBT:
DEAR MAN
A tool for assertive communication to help you get your needs met in interpersonal situations.
- Describe: Clearly describe the situation or behavior without judgment.
- Express: Express your feelings and thoughts about the situation.
- Assert: Make a clear and specific request or assert your needs.
- Reinforce: Explain the positive outcomes of meeting your request or the consequences of not doing so.
- Mindful: Stay focused on your goals and avoid getting sidetracked by emotional reactions.
- Appear confident: Use a confident tone and body language.
- Negotiate: Be willing to negotiate or find a compromise if necessary.
PLEASE
A tool for self-care to help you manage and maintain your well-being.
- Physical health: Take care of your physical needs, including exercise, nutrition, and sleep.
- Listening to your body: Pay attention to your body’s signals and respond appropriately.
- Environment: Create a safe and supportive environment for yourself.
- Ask for help: Reach out and ask for support when needed.
- Stop: Avoid harmful behaviors or situations that can increase stress or distress.
- Enjoy: Engage in activities that bring you joy and relaxation.
FAST
This tool is used for maintaining self-respect and assertiveness in interpersonal situations. FAST stands for:
- Fair: Be fair to yourself and others.
- Apologies: Don’t apologize for your needs or values.
- Stick to values: Stay true to your own values and beliefs.
- Truthful: Be honest and avoid exaggeration or distortion.
GIVE
This tool focuses on building and maintaining healthy relationships through effective communication. GIVE stands for:
- Gentle: Be gentle and avoid harshness.
- Interested: Show genuine interest in the other person’s perspective.
- Validate: Acknowledge and validate the other person’s feelings and viewpoints.
- Encourage: Encourage and support the other person.
TIPP (Temperature, Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing, Paired Muscle Relaxation):
TIPP is a set of distress tolerance skills to help quickly regulate intense emotions.
- Temperature: Change your body temperature (e.g., hold your face in cold water or place an ice pack on the back of your neck) to calm down rapidly.
- Intense Exercise: Engage in short bursts of intense physical activity to expend emotional energy.
- Paced Breathing: Slow down your breathing to calm your body and mind (e.g., inhale for 4 counts, exhale for 6 counts).
- Paired Muscle Relaxation: Tense and then relax different muscle groups to relieve tension and promote relaxation.
WISE Mind:
Wise Mind is the balance between Emotion Mind (acting on impulses and feelings) and Reasonable Mind (acting on logic and facts). It’s a state of mind where you integrate emotional intuition with rational thought to make grounded, balanced decisions. Wise Mind helps you find clarity and wisdom in stressful or overwhelming situations.
odalities/consciousness-mindfulness-awareness/emotional-guidance-scale-the-emotion-spiral/
Opposite Action:
Opposite Action is an emotion regulation skill that involves doing the opposite of what your emotion is urging you to do, particularly when your emotional reaction is unhelpful or unjustified. For example, if you feel like avoiding something due to fear, opposite action would be to face it. This helps change the emotion over time by challenging it through behavior.
Here is a step-by-step guide to practicing Opposite Action in DBT:
1. Identify the Emotion
First, recognize and label the emotion you’re experiencing. Ask yourself:
- What emotion am I feeling right now (e.g., fear, anger, sadness)?
2. Check if the Emotion Fits the Facts
Determine if your emotional reaction is justified by the facts of the situation:
- Does this emotion make sense given what’s happening?
- Is this emotion helpful in this situation?
- If it does not fit the facts or is unhelpful, Opposite Action can be applied.
3. Identify the Urge Driven by the Emotion
Identify what the emotion is urging you to do:
- When you feel this emotion, what do you want to do? (e.g., hide, lash out, withdraw)
4. Choose the Opposite Action
Do the opposite of what your emotional urge is telling you to do:
- If you feel fear and want to avoid, approach what you fear.
- If you feel anger and want to attack, act kindly or calmly.
- If you feel sadness and want to withdraw, engage in activities with others.
5. Act Opposite to the Urge Fully
Commit to the opposite action with your body language, facial expressions, and thoughts. For example:
- If you feel like avoiding a social situation, walk in, make eye contact, and engage with others.
- If you feel like yelling, speak softly, maintain a calm posture, and relax your muscles.
6. Repeat and Practice
The more you practice Opposite Action, the more effective it becomes in changing your emotional responses over time. You may need to repeat the behavior several times before noticing a shift in your feelings.
By following these steps, Opposite Action helps you challenge and reduce the intensity of your emotional responses, fostering healthier and more balanced reactions.
Find images of the emotional spiral or emotion scale here: http://www.wisemindbodyhealing.com/articles/approaches-healing-m
STOP
The STOP skill in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is part of the distress tolerance module and is designed to help you manage intense emotions or distressing situations without making things worse. It helps create space between feeling overwhelmed and reacting impulsively. Here’s a breakdown of the acronym:
S – Stop
This step involves literally stopping what you’re doing. It’s about halting your automatic reaction or urge to act impulsively. By stopping, you create a pause between the situation and your response.
T – Take a Step Back
Once you’ve stopped, take a step back mentally and physically. This might mean literally stepping away from the situation, or figuratively stepping back in your mind to get some distance from your emotions. It’s a way to cool down before reacting.
O – Observe
Now that you’ve stopped and stepped back, observe what is happening both around you and within you. Notice your thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations. What’s triggering your emotions? What’s happening in the environment? This mindfulness step helps you see the situation more clearly.
P – Proceed Mindfully
After observing, proceed with a response that aligns with your values and long-term goals. Be intentional and thoughtful, considering what action is wise and effective rather than reactive. This step helps you take control of the situation rather than letting the situation control you.