DBT skills for BIG emotions

Who of us hasn't acted in a way that we later regretted, especially when experiencing hot, angry and overwhelming emotions? Reactions like this sometimes feel justified or warranted, but later we may harshly judge ourselves for our behaviour. When experiencing significant emotions, there is a DBT skills I like to share with clients. But first, what is DBT? DBT stands for Dialectical Behavioural Therapy and was created by Marsha Linehan of Seattle. In her wonderful memoir, Building a Life Worth Living, Marsha shares about her childhood, time spent as an adolescent at an in-patient psychiatric hospital and then how she persevered by going to school as an adult to ultimately earn her PhD. When she was in the hospital as a teenager, she vowed she would devote her life to creating an effective modality to help those experiencing high suicidality. Of this, she created DBT, which is helpful for many people, not only those who are suicidal. DBT focuses on dialectics, which means roughly that two opposite things can be true at the same time. I continue to see how this simple shift can promote increased psychological flexibility as we navigate life's many inconsistencies.

DBT is known for their effective acronyms. This can be helpful, especially when wanting to remember what skill to use in a crisis. The DBT skill I'd like to share goes by the acronym TIPP and is used when we are feeling highly distressed. It stands for Temperature, Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing and Progressive Muscle Relaxation. For temperature, and of course being mindful beforehand of any medical considerations which may make this or any of these skills contraindicated, it suggests we try changing our temperature. This may look like placing your face in ice water, taking a cold shower and putting an ice pack on your body. Or, it could be the opposite and getting warmer. Intense exercise is about getting your heart rate up. This can be anything from push ups, squats, going for a run, doing stairs, or another form of activity. Paced breathing is about focusing on deep breaths in through your nose, filling your stomach, and long, slow exhales out of your mouth. And lastly is progressive muscle relaxation. There are a lot of progressive muscle relaxation videos on YouTube or Insight Timer. It involves tightening a part of your body, then releasing to notice the difference, and doing so throughout your body.

This DBT skill TIPP seems simple, but can be effective for managing big emotions to experience less distress.

Danielle van Schaik