Posted by fallsfall on October 3, 2003, at 17:14:11
In reply to Re: DBT - Dinah? Others?, posted by Penny on October 3, 2003, at 13:47:56
I was not actively SIing or suicidal when I was in the DBT group (I don't think I was... Long time ago). You do have to have tolerance for people who are at that spot, though. Because you will see it in the group. Sometimes you wish they would just start being reasonable, but that really is what they are trying to do. I found that the most unreasonable people dropped out. My group dwindled down to 2 of us. That was 8 years ago, and I dropped in on the other member on Tuesday to watch a movie.
DBT forces you to think about the details of how you see the world, and how you react. It gives you skills (suggestions) for how to make your life easier. I didn't get all of it (the mindfulness went right over my head), but I drive the friend who is doing DBT in therapy right now crazy by responding to her laments with "Gee, I think there is a DBT skill for that".
It gives you a chance to meet other people who have similarity to yourself (I'm not a traditional BPD person, but I have enough of it so that I could see why we were all in the same room). It can help you feel not as alone.
It also gives you access to an additional (or probably 2 additional) therapists. This is really helpful if you have a real problem with your regular therapist and haven't been able to get it resolved with her. Sometimes a second opinion is really helpful. It also gives you someone to go to when your therapist is on vacation. (I went to see an old group therapist (not DBT) 7 1/2 years after the last group I attended. She had missed a lot in the 7 1/2 years, but she still had a sense of who I was, and I was comfortable talking to her - we had already gone through all that trust stuff.)
It might be worthwhile (and it may be required) to meet with the therapist(s) before you commit. That way you can see if they have the right personality for you, and if you think they could handle the group. If they have run the DBT group in the past, I would strongly suggest that you talk to someone who was in that group. They would be best able to let you know what it was like.
I think the hardest part for me was being patient while other group members threw tantrums. I just wanted to get on with the lesson. To some degree, though, it was helpful to see where I could be if I didn't work in the group and in therapy.
I got my Skills training manual at a small bookstore. I've seen both books in larger bookstores. I bought my Skills Training manual because it has a really awesome list of emotions (how may ways can you say "fear"?). I've entered the words in my computer and make "Emotional Confetti" by cutting each word out. I've used my Emotional Confetti at least 3 different ways. Sometimes when I feel like the world is completely out of control and I need to know that someone understands and that there is hope, I read my book or manual - and they calm me down. OK, so I'm strange.
You seem like you are in control of yourself enough so that you could really learn the skills.
Good luck, Penny
poster:fallsfall
thread:265169
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20030925/msgs/265298.html