Reply to Just when I thought we hit the bottom: what can you tell me about DBT

Forum Index » Kids With Special Needs and Disabilities

Reply to "Just when I thought we hit the bottom: what can you tell me about DBT"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]How old is your son? I’ve been in DBT since January. I’m happy to answer any questions you have, it’s hard to give a general overview of my experience so far.

I’m very lucky that my state Medicaid covers the program in full. [/quote]

Reminds me that I also need to apply for Medicaid for my son.

I am not even sure what I need to know.  How often is it?  Do you have to take a lot of time off from work - or is my perception off?  Do you see changes?  Is there an end or does it go on forever?  Do even eccentric kids fit in and do ok?  [/quote]

My program is one hour of one on one therapy and 1.5 hours of Skills Class per week. I think this is fairly standard. I am currently unemployed so I go to both mid-day on weekdays, but there are several options for the Skills Class including some that meet in the evenings outside of 9-5 hours. I’m assuming one can also schedule their individual therapy outside of work hours as well.

There are about 8 people in my class. Every class follows a simple routine with the facilitator. We work out of a giant binder. First we do a 5 minute or so mindfulness exercise - sometimes a game, a meditation, things like that. Then we go over the homework from last week, which is typically practicing a new skill. Last week we learned the STOP skill (there are a lot of acronyms in DBT) which helps you step back from high emotion situations and not act impulsively and make things worse. So tomorrow each person will take a few minutes to share the situation they experienced and how they applied the STOP skill. The facilitator might ask questions or suggest something we could have done differently. If you didn’t do the homework the facilitator will ask what prevented you from doing it and help you come up with a quick plan to get it done for next week. After everyone has shared, we discuss the next topic, assign new homework, and we’re done.

The folks in my class range from about 22 to over 60. I know my program has classes just for teens though. Everyone is nice, and there are definitely a couple eccentric people but everyone does fine. I’ve seen a few emotional outbursts but the facilitators are trained to get through them with the individual and keep the class moving.

There is a definite end. It takes about 6 months to get through the entire binder in class and learn all the skills. My program recommends going through it all twice, once to learn the skills and then again to really instill them, so about a year commitment. And they do expect a commitment. I don’t know whether there are those who keep doing it for longer or indefinitely. I do know when they’re done with DBT some people return to their previous talk therapy or seek other specific kinds of therapy to work through trauma, etc. DBT is primarily about learning skills and applying them to life rather then delving into the past and dealing with trauma.

The one thing that surprised me was that it feels a little more “woo” than I expected, but I don’t know if that’s just because of the area I’m in.

I think I am improving, slowly but surely. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics