What Is DBT?: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, explained simply
DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) is a practical therapy approach that helps you manage intense emotions and build healthier relationships, while balancing acceptance with meaningful change.
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What does the What Is DBT? Mini Course cover?
What Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is and why it was developed, the core idea that acceptance and change can both be true, the four skill areas of mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness, and how the skills apply day to day.
Who is this What Is DBT? Mini Course for?
Helpful if you:
🌊 Experience emotions that feel intense and hard to manage
🤔 Have been recommended DBT and want to know what it involves
🛠️ Want practical skills for stressful moments
For therapists:
Send this course to clients before starting DBT-informed skills work so the rationale is familiar. Their answer on which skill area would make the biggest difference helps you prioritise which module to begin with. Fully HIPAA and GDPR compliant.
Dr Harriet Mellotte
Clinical Psychologist & CBT Therapist, BABCP
“Offload is a fantastic resource for both clients and therapists. The world of CBT has been lacking an app which enables the sharing of CBT worksheets and homework tasks between clients and therapists, but Offload completely does this, making the service we offer more professional and the benefits to clients greater.”
Frequently asked questions
What is distress tolerance in DBT?
Distress tolerance is a set of skills from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy designed to help you survive intense emotional moments without acting in ways that make the situation worse. It is particularly effective for people who experience overwhelming emotions or emotional crises. On Offload this mini course introduces three core techniques in a guided, interactive format.
How do distress tolerance techniques help with overwhelming emotions?
When emotions become overwhelming the urge to escape or act impulsively can feel uncontrollable. Distress tolerance techniques give you a set of evidence-based tools to ride out those moments safely, reducing impulsive behaviour and emotional suffering over time.
Are you a therapist?
Assign this therapy tool and 200+ other interactive tools directly to your clients. Build personalised care plans, customise tools, and review client responses before sessions. HIPAA and GDPR compliant.
Explore Offload for therapistsReferences
Linehan, M. M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. Guilford Press. Stoffers-Winterling, J. M., et al. (2012). Dialectical behaviour therapy for borderline personality disorder. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Neacsiu, A. D., et al. (2014). Dialectical behavior therapy skills for transdiagnostic emotion dysregulation. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 59, 40–51.
