Understanding DBT for Teens

Is your teen struggling with his mental health? Whether your teen is struggling with depression, anxiety, or something else entirely, therapy can offer him the opportunity to learn healthy coping strategies as he meets the challenges that life throws at him. There are several therapeutic solutions that can help troubled youth.  Teens who are in crisis can find time in a residential treatment center to be incredibly beneficial. Here, they’ll find the right type of support, structure, and therapy to help them restore a sense of normalcy to their lives. Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is one option your teen might benefit from. There are several key benefits to DBT.

Just What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy?

DBT is a form of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). The primary goals of CBT are to help individuals learn healthy strategies for coping with stress, learn how to live in the moment, and to improve their relationships with family and friends. In its early days, DBT was designed to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, it has since been adapted as a part of treating other types of mental health concerns. DBT can offer help for those who are struggling with self-destructive behaviors and also with emotional regulation. DBT is also used as a part of treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Issues DBT Can Help With

DBT may be a suitable treatment for several conditions, include the following.

• Bipolar disorder
• Generalized anxiety disorder
• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder 
• Borderline personality disorder 
• Eating disorders
• Depression
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder 
• Post-traumatic stress disorder
• Suicidal ideation, as well as non-suicidal self-injury
• Substance use and abuse

When combined with other therapeutic solutions, DBT can prove to be a successful route for teens in crisis.

Residential Treatment Centers and DBT

When a troubled teen enters a residential treatment center, he will undergo a complete evaluation. This evaluation allows the compassionate and knowledgeable staff to gain an insight into what your teen has been struggling with. With this in mind, they will formulate a solid treatment plan that will include options tailored to meet his individual needs. Some techniques and strategies that therapists may incorporate during DBT could include the following. 

• Mindfulness skills. Developing mindfulness skills is an important benefit of DBT. Mindfulness encourages you to focus on the right now, or to live in this moment. It can help you pay better attention to what you are thinking and feeling right now versus focusing on anxiety or emotional pain. Mindfulness can also help you reduce your reliance on negative thought patterns and the impulsive behavior that can lead you down the wrong path.

• Distracting, to better the experience and self-soothe during times of stress. When things are stressful or overwhelming, teens may be encouraged to simply distract themselves and change things up. This could include going outside, getting up and walking around the house, taking out the trash. The idea behind this strategy is to distract your racing mind by letting your body lead the way. Emotions will soon follow the changing processes.
• Incorporating new strategies to help improve upon relationships and also foster positive communication skills. Teens could be taught to take a gentle approach when deal with others. No attacking, no judging, no threatening, as an example. They could also learn how to show interest, validate what others are thinking and feeling, and focus on keeping things upbeat and light-hearted.
• Emotion regulation allows teens to learn how to work through powerful feelings in a much more effective manner. These skills help teens to recognize, name, and adjust their emotions.

Dialectical behavior therapy can help teens learn new coping skills and learn how to improve the healthy coping skills they already have. Teens will also learn how to effectively manage and express those intense emotions they would have otherwise struggled to deal with. The result of DBT is not only learning emotion regulation, but teens find they feel more confident in themselves and their ability to communicate with others in a healthily.

Let Us Help

If your teen could benefit from DBT and other therapeutic solutions, call our team of professionals at Liahona Academy. A residential treatment center can provide troubled teens with the right type of therapeutic solutions to help get them back on track.