Celebrating 10 Years of Healing Springs Ranch — A Decade of Transforming Lives 
What Is Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)?
If you are seeking treatment to overcome substance abuse, substance dependence, or substance use disorder (SUD), it can be helpful to know what to expect from the process. Whether you participate in an outpatient program, partial hospitalization program (PHP), or residential program, one of the main elements of treatment you’ll engage with is psychotherapy. Also known as talk therapy, psychotherapy will provide you with the safe space you need to talk through problematic thoughts and emotions that exist alongside your substance abuse.
Contrary to what some people may believe, there are many different forms of psychotherapy, with the most popular forms being cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). CBT and DBT are recognized as traditional psychotherapy approaches and are often used alongside holistic and experiential psychotherapy approaches to facilitate comprehensive treatment for clients.
At Healing Springs Ranch, cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavior therapy are the backbones of our treatment plans. These traditional approaches assist clients in strengthening self-awareness as they work toward establishing and sustaining lasting positive change in their lives.
Understanding DBT
Both CBT and DBT are valuable in that they help clients understand the connections that exist between their thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The main element that differentiates these psychotherapy approaches, however, is that each approach has a unique focus. More specifically, CBT focuses on changing negative thoughts and behaviors, whereas DBT focuses on emphasizing the role of acceptance to motivate lasting behavior change.
DBT is effective as it helps clients build four major skills:
- Mindfulness: Consists of paying deliberate attention to the present moment without judgment
- Distress tolerance: Consists of developing and strengthening coping skills to best navigate difficult situations as they surface
- Emotional regulation: Consists of learning how to name and tame emotions instead of feeling controlled by them
- Interpersonal effectiveness: Consists of improving social skills to maintain healthy and positive relationships
Why DBT Matters in Addiction Recovery
DBT was originally developed as a treatment for borderline personality disorder (BPD), a mental health disorder marked by impulsive behavior, suicidal ideation, unstable relationships, and chronic emotional dysregulation. Today, DBT has been expanded to treat a variety of conditions, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, substance use disorder, dual diagnosis, and more.
At Healing Springs Ranch, we know that while individuals may present to treatment for primary concerns of addiction and substance use disorder, there are underlying causes that must be addressed to facilitate lasting sobriety and recovery. Our treatment programs utilize the Integrated Wellness Model™, which recognizes addiction as a symptom of a deeper issue. More often than not, the deeper issue is an untreated mental health condition, unresolved trauma, suppressed pain, or a combination thereof. Thus, DBT is especially valuable in addiction recovery as it assists clients in identifying and addressing underlying emotional pain and trauma that informs continued substance abuse.
How DBT Supports Addiction Recovery at Healing Springs Ranch
As you work to establish sobriety from substance abuse or other addictive behavior in treatment, you will work with a clinician to better understand why you’ve turned to alcohol and other drugs to self-medicate difficult emotions in your daily life. Rather than forcing yourself to change the thought habits that keep you stuck in cycles of addiction, DBT will help you change your behavior by first validating and accepting such habits, regardless of how painful they may be.
More often than not, we turn to substance abuse to cope with stress because it allows us to temporarily escape the pain we bring to others and ourselves. By learning how to accept this pain as an inevitable part of the human experience, we can evolve beyond such pain and gain the motivation we need to become the person we truly want to be in recovery.
The Role of DBT in Emotional Regulation
In DBT sessions, you will learn a variety of skills that will enhance your ability to regulate your emotions effectively. Some specific skills you may learn include properly naming and taming your emotions, reducing the frequency and intensity of unpleasant emotions, implementing healthy coping behaviors, and building positive emotional experiences in your life.
The four major skills of DBT, mentioned previously, all work together to enhance your quality of life in treatment and throughout addiction recovery. Consider mindfulness as an example. As you become more mindful of your moment-to-moment experiences, as well as the thoughts, emotions, and sensations that arise, you will learn how to respond to the present moment in a more balanced way. Rather than immediately reacting to an experience as it unfolds, mindfulness gives you the space that you need to consciously respond to it.
A few of the tools that you may learn in sessions to enhance emotional regulation skills include:
- Effectively labeling emotions
- Utilizing opposite action to challenge negative emotions
- Engaging in activities to build confidence and competence
- Questioning assumptions
- “STOP”: Stop, Take a breath, Observe, and Proceed
Building Resilience and Reducing Triggers
DBT skills are also especially valuable for relapse prevention in substance abuse recovery. Cravings to engage in addictive behavior will come and go throughout sobriety, so it is critical to build resilience to any future stress and hardship to best prevent relapse. Part of this process involves learning how to identify and navigate triggers as they surface. Similar tools used to enhance emotional regulation may also be effective for relapse prevention.
Integrating DBT With Integrative Treatment at Healing Springs Ranch: A Whole-Person Approach to Healing
At Healing Springs Ranch, we know that effective and long-lasting treatment for substance use disorder goes beyond addressing addictive behavior. Thus, we take a integrative approach to healing and recovery, allowing us to understand each client’s unique story and the subjective circumstances that have contributed to their substance abuse. As we learn more about you as a person and your goals for recovery, we can create the most personalized and effective treatment plan to enhance your quality of life.
Combining DBT With Other Therapies
All of the psychotherapy approaches that we use in treatment are applied using a holistic lens. Though DBT itself is not considered a integrative therapy, we often use it in tandem with integrative approaches like psychodrama, somatic experiencing, and expressive therapies like art therapy. By implementing the use of multiple types of therapy and approaches into a client’s treatment plan, we can facilitate comprehensive care that addresses each client’s physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being in ways that are unique to them.
Sober Fun and Community Connection
Although psychotherapy is one of the main elements of the treatment process to overcome substance abuse, mental health disorders, and dual diagnosis, other aspects of treatment are critical to lasting healing. At Healing Springs Ranch, we encourage clients to build relationships amidst our therapeutic community. Community connection not only helps to challenge feelings of isolation and loneliness that can be common in recovery, but it also helps to create newfound meaning for sobriety.
Those participating in treatment at our residential treatment center will have the opportunity to live among others who are working to establish and sustain lasting sobriety in their lives. In addition to living together, those in treatment will also be able to build peer relationships in group therapy and through structured, leisure fun. These relationships will provide one another with new perspectives, social support, and shared accountability for continued abstinence and growth throughout recovery.
Key Benefits of DBT for Individuals in Addiction Recovery
In summary, DBT can provide a wide range of benefits for individuals in addiction recovery. Some of these benefits include:
- Creating lasting behavior change
- Reducing the risk of lapses
- Improving relationships and self-worth
Embrace Healing and Connection with DBT at Healing Springs Ranch
No matter where you are on your journey to sobriety and recovery, there is always room for transformation. We at Healing Springs Ranch want to guide and support you as you enhance your quality of life in treatment. Connect with our therapeutic community to learn more about how DBT and community connection can assist you in securing lasting healing and sobriety in your life.
Psychotherapies like dialectical behavior therapy are the foundation of an effective treatment plan to overcome substance abuse, mental health disorders, and addiction. At Healing Springs Ranch, we tailor our use of psychotherapy to fit each client’s unique needs, combining the use of whole-person approaches to facilitate comprehensive care. To learn more about how we can assist you in securing lasting healing and sobriety in your life, call us today at (866) 656-8384.