DBT Skills Group Week 4: TIP

 

 

 

I didn’t actually go week 4, but I picked up the handouts last week so that I wouldn’t miss this skill. Now, I’m sharing it with you.

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DBT Skills Group Week 3: STOP

Sorry for my silly doodles, I get bored.

This pro/con chart was filled out using a made-up example we were given in the group. Yours will look different based on what scenario you’re charting.

Here are this week’s handouts. Yesterday we learned about STOP.
Stop
Take a step back
Observe
Proceed mindfully

We also learned about what Crisis Survival Skills are and when you should use them. STOP is just one Crisis Survival Skill, and so far the only one I know.

I tried using STOP yesterday when I was having an anxiety attack over being in the car (being on the freeway, especially, terrifies me) but it didn’t work. However, that may just be because I’m not practiced in it yet. Or, maybe it’s the wrong skill for the situation. I don’t know. But the important part is that I tried it.

I had worried about sharing my DBT handouts on my blog. I worried my audience would find it boring. However, I received a very heartwarming email thanking me for sharing them, so I’ve decided to continue for now. My hope is that they find someone who need the skills but doesn’t have a DBT program in their area.

But please, do let me knwo what you think of me sharing, whether you like it or not. If you aren’t interested in reading my DBT handouts each week, I might just start a new blog for them. However, I kind of want to keep it here as it’s all part of my eating disorder recovery journey, which is what this blog is about. So feel free to weigh in either way!

 

Diary Cards

 

This is the front and back of the diary cards I use with my DBT therapist. The front goes over urges I have for things I’m struggling with, things like cutting, binging and purging, and not eating, as well as emotions that I have, both positive and negative, and finally which urges I actually act on. The last column deals with whether I thought of using any skills, tried to use them, and whether they were effective.

On the backside, it lists ALL the DBT skills and I just mark off which skills I used that day. So far I know the skills in the first section labeled “Core Mindfulness”. The next module we’re going into I think is Distress Tolerance, so I’ll be learning those next. That’s a 6 week module.

I am supposed to fill it out each day, so I set an alarm on my phone to remember, because otherwise I don’t.

 

DBT Skills Group Week 2: The Rest of Core Mindfulness

 

I’m a little late posting this week’s DBT skills. This week we went over the rest of the Core Mindfulness module and learned about Observing, Describing, Participating, Nonjudgmentalness, One-Mindfulness, and Effectiveness. Yeah, we went over a lot of skills this week. And we have to practice ALL of them this week. That’s our homework. It’s a little overwhelming. However, they’re all good skills, so I’m trying to remember to practice them.