Ok just me again 😳:face_with_rolling_eyes:
just wanting to really journal a bit here about my experiences with DBT while it’s still fresh in my mind. I’m not expecting any responses but thought I’d share just in case anyone was interested.
The Good.
The most awesome, beautiful women in my group. It was a really cohesive and supportive group. There were lots of laughs and some tears, and today, lots of hugs too.
Having weekly sessions kept skills in the forefront of my mind mostly. I learned lots more than I expected too. I think some may even stay in my brain for a bit 😜.
My understanding of emotion regulation has grown so much. It makes much more sense now. Today’s session was really helpful in tying lots together.
Sharing our homework was such a great way to see how others implemented concepts and bought lots of light bulb moments for us all. I honestly learned as much, if not more, from members in my group sharing experiences (I guess there’s a touch of lived experience forum there too)
It got better as I went along to be able to talk through homework tasks and refine skills through discussing them or looking at things in a new way.
The really non judgemental approach to everything and the growing confidence to share our experiences (becoming more vulnerable but more connected) was a lovely shared mutual experience.
The Bad. (Just to make sure we miss the dialectic......what middle ground!😉😜)
it will take a long time and lots of practice to use the skills in everyday life. I forget to use them often.
4.5 months is too rushed. I was finally starting to get it and find relevance in the last few weeks. I understand why they run the program over 12 months in the private system. I still find myself feeling overloaded and a little overwhelmed with it.
that it ended because going to group really helped keep it in my brain as a more constant thing. Having to present homework is helpful too because it means you have to practice and be aware of it......however doing a few concepts a week means there was no time to refine or work through problems that arose later.
sometimes the heaviness of emotion from going to group or doing the homework, especially in distress tolerance, as you had to work through crisis situations and it kept them 'alive' longer if that makes sense.
The Ugly
My wilfulness and barriers I put up. I got better at it but I didn’t realise how stubborn I really was with some concepts. I had walls that went up with a few things that really challenged my thinking and this some rather strong emotions too. I often needed distress tolerance skills to deal with the distress tolerance module and the emotion regulation.
The Interesting
watching how individual we all were with what worked for us in group. Some things that were really not helpful for me were really helpful for others and vice versa. It’s definitely not a one size fits all therapy like I think I thought before. Once you start finding the things that are relevant to you it helps lots.
I think there will be a time and place for me to do the program again when my life circumstances are different. Being so very isolated in real life meant that modules like interpersonal skills were hard to practice for me.
That’s my wrap on DBT for now, written with gratitude that I got to do the program 😊
