Does your teen have adequate support for managing their mental health?
Teens have to manage a lot. They’re just learning how to navigate their social lives, exploring themselves, balancing school and questions of the future, expectations and hopes of others adding pressure onto all of that–all while managing the swirling hormones that come with being a teenager, which just makes all of that harder.
So it’s no surprise that teens struggle with stress, anxiety, depression, and social connections & relationship building.
And while strong teen-parental relationships are crucial to healthy development of teen’s self esteem and ongoing management of teen mental health, it’s also important for them to have spaces and support beyond the structure of your family, to help them with things you might not be equipped or ready to help them with.
What is DBT?
DBT stands for dialectical behavioral therapy; it’s a form of talk therapy that is based on cognitive behavioral therapy, but adapted for those who experience emotions at a more intense rate than those around them–which can make it a wonderful option for teens who are managing such intense emotions through their development.
Within dialectical behavioral therapy, opposite ideas are combined (this is what “dialectical” means). Feelings and behaviors are investigated, unhelpful patterns are identified and DBT helps to teach skills to redirect those thinking and behavioral patterns to more productive options.
How can DBT help your teen?
DBT can help to teach your teen that our States of Mind influence our perspective on situations:
What State of Mind we are in has a big impact on what we experience and the decisions that we make. DBT teaches us that we have three States of Mind: Emotion Mind, Logic or Reason Mind, and Wise Mind.
When we are in Emotion Mind, we are focused on and driven by our emotions. Logic or Reason Mind is the opposite of Emotion Mind – here we are solely focused on being logical and what we can prove, not on how we feel. Wise Mind is the combination of both Emotion and Logic Minds. This is the ideal – the space we want to be where we can feel our feelings AND focus on the facts.
DBT can help your teen stop the emotional spiral:
Within DBT, it’s believed that often times our emotions spiral out of control as a result of judgments we have while in Emotion Mind. When we are emotional, it usually triggers a judgment response, which pull us into the spiral and hinder the development of self esteem!
The skill of the non-judgemental stance is taught in DBT, to help focus on the facts and stop this spiral before it begins.
DBT can help your teen regulate big emotions:
Emotional regulation is the term for learning to understand and balance emotions, so your feelings can inform but not dictate your decision making and behavior. This part of DBT teaches us skills to help:
observe and describe emotions
increase positive emotions
avoid emotional suffering
act effectively when feeling difficult emotions
DBT can help your teen tolerate distress:
One of the many things your teen will learn in DBT is distress tolerance: how to cope with difficult emotions when they arise. The goal here is to teach your teen NOT to get rid of emotions or never have them, but to have them and cope with them.
Wondering if a DBT skills group is the right fit for your teen? Here are some questions to consider:
Does your teen sometimes feel "bad" or "upset" without knowing why?
Does your teen seem as though they are on an emotional roller coaster, with little control over extreme emotions?
Do your teen's emotions often get the best of them, leading them to do something they later regret?
Does your teen tend to judge him/herself or make statements about disliking him/herself?
Does your teen tend to dwell on the negative?
Does your teen try to avoid feelings by shutting down?
Does your teen engage in self-destructive behaviors (like self-harm)?
Does your teen tend to ignore their own needs or happiness, but focus on making others happy?
Do they tend to struggle socially - becoming friends with others who don't treat them fairly, or having very intense relationships quickly?
Do they feel alone and/or misunderstood?
Do they tend to worry excessively?
Do they tend to struggle with standing up for themselves and being assertive?
Do they seem anxious, either caused by a specific trigger or for seemingly no reason?
Are they struggling with communication with family, peers, teachers?
Do they feel hopeless or unsure of whether things can improve?
If you answered YES to at least 3 of these questions, a DBT skills group might be a great way to support your teen. Fill out the form below and I will contact you to schedule a phone call to explore the next best steps.