DBT Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide to Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Originally developed for the treatment of borderline personality disorder, dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, has rapidly become one of the most popular and most effective treatments for all mental health conditions rooted in out-of-control emotions. However, there are limited resources for psychologists seeking to use DBT skills with individual clients. In the tradition of ACT Made Simple, DBT Made Simple provides clinicians with everything they need to know to start using DBT in the therapy room.

The first part of this book briefly covers the theory and research behind DBT and explains how DBT differs from traditional cognitive behavioral therapy approaches. The second part focuses on strategies professionals can use in individual client sessions, while the third section teaches the four skills modules that form the backbone of DBT: core mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. The book includes handouts, case examples, and example therapist-client dialogue—everything clinicians need to equip their clients with these effective and life-changing skills.

Sheri Van Dijk, MSW, is a mental health therapist in private practice and at Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket, ON, Canada. She is the author of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Bipolar Disorder, Don't Let Your Emotions Run Your Life for Teens, and Calming the Emotional Storm, and is coauthor of The Bipolar Workbook for Teens. In September 2010, she received the R.O. Jones Award from the Canadian Psychiatric Association for her research on using DBT skills to treat bipolar disorder.