A Clear and Effective Approach to Learning DBT Skills

First developed for treating borderline personality disorder, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has proven effective as treatment for a range of other mental health problems, especially for those characterized by overwhelming emotions. Research shows that DBT can improve your ability to handle distress without losing control and acting destructively. In order to make use of these techniques, you need to build skills in four key areas--distress tolerance, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

This book, a collaborative effort from three esteemed authors, offers straightforward, step-by-step exercises for learning these concepts and putting them to work for real and lasting change. Start by working on the introductory exercises and, after making progress, move on to the advanced-skills chapters. Whether you are a professional or a general reader, whether you use this book to support work done in therapy or as the basis for self-help, you'll benefit from this clear and practical guide to better managing your emotions.

The individual struggling with overwhelming emotions and DBT therapists will benefit significantly from this workbook. McKay, Wood and Brantley have expanded and translated DBT Skills, making Linehan's iconic work on emotional skill building even more accessible and easy to apply to everyday life.
--Kate Northcott, MA, MFT, is a DBT therapist in private practice with Mindfulness Therapy Associates and is director of New Perspectives Center for Counseling, a non-profit counseling center, in San Francisco, CA...

While anger can serve vital functions to protect and defend the integrity of the self, it is too frequently an instrument that destroys and abuses. Hostile reactions often lead to guilt, regret, and alienation; uncontrolled anger exacts a heavy price from the mind and body. Research suggests that individuals who are quick to anger are vastly more likely to die early in life than those whose reactions to stress are more pacific and controlled. This book is a complete, step-by-step guide to changing habitual anger-generating thoughts while developing healthier, more effective ways of meeting your needs. It is ideal for therapists who work with families or teach anger control and helpful for health professionals who treat the effects of Type-A personality. This book guides you through the process of creating your own personal intervention strategy for controlling angry impulses. Learn about the "two-stage" model of anger production. Find out how to recognize pre-existing stress-producing conditions that often lead to angry moments without directly causing them. When you work through the exercises and lessons in this book, you will immediately see positive change in every aspect of your life....

This audio program offers a set of in-the-moment techniques you can use to relax in the face of daily stressors: when driving, while working at your desk, in a crowd, or anywhere else you develop tension during the day. Applied relaxation training teaches you how to relax all of your muscles except those you actually need to perform a particular activity.

Based on the exercises and techniques in The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, the go-to guide for stress reduction and total relaxation....

You can control your body's response to stress. This complete audio program includes exercises in body sensing, positive visualization, and guided fantasies that will enhance body awareness and make deep relaxation easily achievable.

Based on the exercises and techniques in The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, the go-to guide for stress reduction and total relaxation....

Just about every day brings some kind of stress into your life, but it also offers a new opportunity to treat yourself to the benefits of a calm mind, relaxed body, and refreshed spirit. All five of these twenty-minute programs offer short, simple practices that promote deep, lasting, and restorative relaxation. Each program is set to soothing compositions.

Relax Your Body: Designed to reduce physical tension so you can relax anywhere, anytime, in almost an instant.

Calm Your Mind: Practices to help you quiet worries and find your peaceful center.

Refresh Your Spirit: Exercises for focusing attention inward by imagining a peaceful natural setting and listening to a nurturing inner voice.

Relieve Your Worry: Helps you let go of anxious and negative thoughts and find joy in the present moment.

Improve Your Mood: Heal sadness by recalling sources of nourishment and pleasure and reconnecting with times in the past when you felt calm and confident.

The exercises on these CD are adapted from the book The Daily Relaxer by Matthew McKay, Ph.D., and Patrick Fanning....

The ever-escalating costs of anger are well documented: sabotaging careers, alienating friends and family, triggering illness, causing bodily harm. Written by two well-regarded experts in the field, The Anger Control Workbook introduces a new and radically simplified approach to anger control. Step-by-step exercises will aid readers in identifying, understanding, responding to, and ultimately coping with their hostile feelings. "Half the anger battle can be won by simply learning to relax the physical tension that develops in provocative situations. It's a proven fact that if you can relax your body, and keep it relaxed, it's almost impossible to get angry. Combating stress using the skills you're about to learn can help you calm down, think clearly, and handle any situation in an effective, positive way." - from the book...

This audio program presents a complete introduction to the Jacobsen technique for progressive deep muscle relaxation. It offers simple breathing exercises to help you turn stressful feelings into a vanishing memory. You will also discover Yoga breathing techniques to help you relax or build extraordinary energy when you need it most.

Based on the exercises and techniques in The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook, the go-to guide for stress reduction and total relaxation....