DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOURAL THERAPY FOR BIPOLAR DISORDER

You can, (but just to give you the heads up, we are doing sleep hygiene haha) - - - but you are absolutely most welcome cracked! Cya then :)

Reading for Itchy Monkey Group Week 2

I think we've had a nice taste test of dbt. We've gone into it deeply and it might be nice to gain perspective again.

Itchy Monkey Group - Sydney Sat 6pm, London Sat 9am, New York Fri 4am; Los Angeles Fri 1am.

________________________________________________________________________________

1.Concepts:

2. Where we are at makes perfect sense given our dna, our history, our experiences and our circumstances

3. Unconditional non-judgemental acceptance of ourselves gives us the capacity to change in the ways we want to.

4. Opposites can be true at the same time - they are not mutually exclusive.

5. We can understand that we have outgrown some coping mechanisms without having to beat ourselves up for them - they did have value once!

6. When what we are doing is no longer working for us, we have the desire to change.

7. Self acceptance is the starting point for genuine change

8. Trying to escape pain, ultimately makes the pain worse.

9. DBT needs to be applied to real life situations - gotta walk ya talk

10 Distress Tolerance - attempts to reduce or avoid discomfort and pain, actually increase its intensity. DBT skill training also offers down to earth and practical ways of acting to make uncomfortable, painful and crappy situations more tolerable. For example, the grief and pain following the loss of a relationship might be alleviated and soothed by crying, eating something delicious, talking to friend and a taking warm bath.

11.Emotional Regulation - When the emotional system becomes dysregulated, it gets in the way of being able to respond effectively to the situation. The goal of the emotion regulation then is balancing the intensity of your emotion. This is not the same as ignoring, avoiding or attempting to make the emotion go away. Rather, the skills help regulate and modulate anger, fear, shame, and sadness.

12. Interpersonal effectiveness - The interpersonal effectiveness module is designed to make interpersonal relationships less chaotic and stressful by building skills which support behaviors and actions in support of your values. Interpersonal skills are central and focus on areas such as:
*identifying and expressing one’s needs in an effective way;
*complaining and making requests effectively;
*supporting and maintaining relationships;
*setting effective limits in relationships.

Hope this helps - will go through step by step in the session :) Cya there

Post Edited (Living Well) : 9/10/2011 12:45:41 AM (GMT-6)

hi cd, the bipolarfish

I've just got the book I ordered in the post today. It is Sheri Van Dijk's Book - The DBT Skills Workbook. I also got the Skill Training Manual for BPD. and the DBT Diary

But I haven't gone by any book. I've tailored it to the needs of participants. Our recent distress tolerance class for example was telling jokes, laughter therapy, singing and dancing.

It obliterated our bad moods!!!!

I've started up [email protected] - where personalised notes are available.

This won't be the same as attending group, but you - and anyone else here - is welcome to join.

Jade x

I would like to join the chat as well.

Enjoyed last evening's session.

Hi All,

The group that started as a couple of us chatting about coping skills a few weeks back is growing in number and I believe is requiring some more structure as it evolves.

CURRENT FOCUS

Because there are more people, it would be helpful if participants have familiarised themselves with some concepts before group. It is not essential to do the reading - it should just help you get more interest and understanding during the short time we have to discuss concepts. At the moment we are looking at distress tolerance (dt):
http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/html/distress_tolerance.html
If you want to peruse through the dt links on that page (from overview to pros and cons) before group, it should do two things.
1. It should help you develop questions to bring to group for discussion and
2. It should give you a good sense of context about distress tolerance - which should help you for our group discussion about parts of distress tolerance.
It may also help the flow of group and the quality of the discussion possible.

INFORMATION about THE COPING GROUP

I am not a DBT Trained Therapist. Furthermore , DBT can only be performed/delivered within a full team of DBT Trained Therapists. The group is not a therapeutic group. I merely raise concepts for group discussion. The group is for discussion about information on coping; that is all. The group does not attempt to provide therapy in any form. I do not and will not take on the role of therapist. An online information and discussion group facilitated by a mentally unwell non-dbt-therapist peer member is not the place if you require therapy. If you are triggered by a group discussion, it is advised that you rely on your professional support network. I am not paid enough (read: Nothing) to work with interfering behaviours. Anyone who wants to be a hardcore saboteur of the group, will need to find a trained DBT team that has adequate resources to manage their behaviours. The individual alone is responsible for their interpretation of concepts and how they may relate those concepts to their life.

My diagnoses PTSD, Borderline PD, and Bipolar 2 and did a year long DBT course in 2009-2010 as a participant only. I am merely sharing what I learnt in the course and I have read elsewhere and found it has helped. Even though I facilitate these groups my illnesses are not yet to maximum stability and as a human I am also allowed to have a bad day on occasion. Anything I say as part of the coping group in chat or on the forums is merely my own opinion and is not necessarily the opinion of the site. I am in no way connected to the administration or moderation of the chat site. I am a mere member :).

I combine material from a variety of sources. The main ones being:
a. Notes from the DBT Course she participated in.
b. Those notes are primarily based on “Skills Training Manual for Treating Borderline Personality Disorder” by Marsha M. Linehan.
c. The Dialectical behaviour Therapy Skills Workbook for Bipolar Disorder by Sher Van Dijk
d. The Dialectical behaviour Therapy Diary by M. McKay & J. Wood
e. http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/ by Lisa Dietz

WHAT IS DBT?

1. Lisa Dietz says "Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) combines cognitive and behavioral therapy, incorporating methodologies from various practices including Eastern mindfulness techniques".
2. McKay & Wood says “Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was originally created by Dr. Marsha Linehan (1993a) to help people who were struggling with borderline personality disorder. It was designed to teach people practical skills to improve their lives, and research showed that it was very successful. Now DBT is also being used to help people who are struggling with a wide variety of other problems, including depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety. The common factor in all of these problems is overwhelming emotions.”p.1.
3. Van Dijk says “DBT is effective in helping people learn to handle distress in healthier ways and without losing control. One of the primary goals of dialectical behavior therapy is to teach you skills to help you to live your life more effectively.”p.3

PARTICIPATION & OBSERVATION

Everyone is most welcome to come in, observe the group, and join in if and when they want. There is no requirement to participate. There is the expectation that general group content (with obvious exceptions) will remain confidential. Although not enforceable it is very much welcomed and appreciated.

Chat registration link: https://www.healingwell.com/community/register.aspx
Chat link: https://www.healingwell.com/community/chat/default.asp

GROUP TIMES

Cheeky Monkey Group:
Brisbane 9am Sat | London 12am Sat | New York 7pm Fri | Los Angeles 4pm Fri
Times for other cities: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Everyday+Coping+-+Cheeky+Monkey&iso=20111001T09&p1=47&ah=1

Itchy Monkey Group:
Brisbane 6pm Sat | London 9am Sat | New York 4am Sat | Los Angeles 1am Sat
Times for other cities:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/fixedtime.html?msg=Everyday+Coping+-+Itchy+Monkey&iso=20111001T18&p1=47&ah=1

Everyday Coping Group Email and Private Chat
http://groups.live.com/everydaycoping/

Thanks. Feel free to comment or ask questions.

Jade x

I was accepted into a DBT group therapy program on the ward today. I'll be joining you in your discussions and I look forward to learning some coping skills that will help make my life better for the first time in my life. At age 30!

Well we had another fantastic two groups today. I just love chatting about DBT and hearing how people are applying it to their lives. More so in the second group (itchy monkeys) we got into discussion that distress tolerance isn't a way of coping with an abusive relationship. We spoke about what is and isn't an abusive relationship. We spoke a little about the difference between relationships where interpersonal effectiveness worked and the ones where it didn't. We also discussed that distress tolerance isn't a way to suppress or shut off our feelings. It is a way of listening to our feelings, feeling our feelings, hearing their message, caring for ourselves and taking the most effective action, rather that acting on impulse. It takes skill to find that middle group between shutting off or being hysterical. We discussed how emotions are never wrong. They are always telling us an important story about something in our lives and they are worthy of being listened to - but that it is important to make decisions and take effective action with our head as well as our heart. That's just a really quick run down of the itchy monkey group today. I think in the cheeky monkey (first) group we spoke more about the validity of strong emotions; and how to manage them. We discussed examples by group participants. I'm intending next week to show that DT need not be dry and boring. We can actually do some really fun things to offset really painful emotions. Two great sites for DBT are http://www.dbtselfhelp.com/ and http://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/dbt.htm we are very lucky to have such great resources easily accessible and free. It would be really great if you had a look at those sites... especially looking at distress tolerance, which we are discussing in group atm. I look forward to seeing all those who can make it next week. Have a great week everybody. Thanks for coming.
Jade x

I really enjoy what you bring to the group Awake ;) Hugs.

Hi All,

Mental Earth Community (MEC)has accepted our application for the group to be conducted there; starting this weekend.

It would be good if you could familiarise yourself with the forums and chat before the group discussion time.

There are lots of bells and whistles (and yes even fart sound effects in chat) for you to play around with. Enjoy :).

I have found the community there very pleasant and welcoming.

Obviously, it goes without saying, but as we are joining their community, it would only be polite to intro yourself in the "Welcome Members" forum.

I hope the forum there can be used to discuss anything about the group content in between sessions during the week.

I also look forward to the added dimension of our pre-existing MEC friends emerging themselves in the group and group discussion.

Please take the time to register at http://mentalearth.com/forums/MEC/index.php?app=core&module=global§ion=register

Please save the login address http://mentalearth.com/forums/MEC/index.php?app=core&module=global§ion=login

If for any reason the site or the chat function is down... we will have group here at HW. I don't intend to leave HW...

Hugs,
Jade x

the groups are still running... next one in just under 4 1/2 hours http://mentalearth.com/forums/MEC/index.php?app=core&module=global§ion=login

Hey, I want in on the DBT chat! I don't know how it works. I am on PST. How did I miss all this activity? Too much time on the dating site! LOL