Good afternoon DBT adventurers,

As you alluded to @Appleblossom life is getting in the way a little in my world at the moment, but I am hoping my brain is working enough to say something vaguely intelligible.

@SGde3a It is super nice to see you here. I agree with all that @CheerBear has said and I'm not sure that I have much to add.

I guess you could say DBT is an extension of CBT. That is, it includes many of the same techniques as CBT but it also has a focus on mindfulness. So, while CBT is very much about changing thoughts and feelings, DBT is PARTLY about that, but also partly about learning to sit with very big feelings at times.The skills training component that we are working through here in Forum Land is only one part of DBT (the other parts being individual therapy and telephone support).

There is certainly debate both in philosophy and psychology about whether personality is changeable or not. I haven't quite made up my mind where I sit in this debate yet - I can see and appreciate the arguments for both sides. Perhaps that is the very dialectic that Linehan is talking about when she says we are 100% ok just as we are and yet we also need to work at changing.

You mentioned @SGde3a that you are happy to look at anything that suggests it will definitely cure people. There is certainly no such guarantee with DBT. DBT does have a high success rate of treating BPD in the sense that many people after completing DBT no longer meet diagnostic criteria for BPD. But whether that means they are "cured" or not would be a matter of debate. Indeed, the whole concept of cure is grounded in the medical model, which I personally do not subscribe to in the way I conceptualise BPD.

I totally agree with you @SGde3a that targeting the cause of a person's issues is super important. I am desperately trying to find a therapist who will help me do that, thus far without success. I know that the DBT skills are not going to help me unmuddle my muddle. However, they help me to stay alive, and staying alive is a prerequisite to me ever finding the elusive therapist who will hopefully help me to address the cause of my muddles. Therefore, even though the DBT skills won't help me address the core issues, they are not useless for me.

@Appleblossom It definitely does my head in the way mindfulness has become such a buzz word. I'm sure it is thrown around without being well explained by a lot of people. I am grateful that I encountered the concept years ago before it became so trendy.

I totally agree with you @Appleblossom and @SGde3a that there are realities outside of our own experience that matter. I think for me the important thing is that when I'm in a situation that I have no control over, then being able to at least regulate my emotions enough to stay alive is super important. It's even better if I can regulate enough to feel more ok in the situation.

Anyway, I think my brain power has expired for the moment. Super big thank you for your contributions @Appleblossom and @SGde3a.