Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

What DBT Is All About

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) was originally created to help people who experience intense emotions that feel hard to manage or control. It combines mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and communication skills to help you handle life’s chaos with more stability and confidence.

It’s called “dialectical” because it’s all about balance, learning to accept yourself as you are while also working toward change. You don’t have to pick one or the other. DBT teaches you how to hold both truths at the same time.

Who Can Benefit

DBT is especially helpful if you find yourself swinging between emotional highs and lows or struggling to maintain relationships when things get tough. It’s often used for:

Emotional regulation difficulties
Borderline personality disorder (BPD)
Anxiety
Depression
Trauma or PTSD
Impulsivity or self destructive behaviours
Perfectionism
Burnout or chronic stress

But honestly, you don’t need a specific diagnosis to benefit from DBT. Anyone who wants to handle their emotions more effectively or improve how they respond under pressure can gain something from it.

What Sessions Are Like

DBT sessions are structured and skill based. You and your therapist will focus on practical tools you can use between sessions so you start noticing changes in your daily life, not just in the therapy room.

You’ll learn and practice skills in four main areas:

Mindfulness being aware of your thoughts and emotions without getting pulled under by them
Emotion regulation recognizing, understanding, and managing strong feelings
Distress tolerance getting through tough moments without making them worse
Interpersonal effectiveness communicating clearly and maintaining boundaries without losing connection

Sessions are 60 minutes long and focus on building skills at your own pace. You’ll explore real situations from your life and figure out how to apply DBT techniques in those moments when everything feels too much.

Working Together

At Healing Journey, DBT is about progress, not perfection. You’ll work one on one with a therapist who understands that change doesn’t happen overnight.

The goal isn’t to stop having emotions, it’s to help you understand them, ride them out, and respond in ways that actually help instead of hurt.

If you’re ready to build more balance, stability, and self trust, get in touch and we’ll take the next step together.