Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: Mindfulness and Wise Mind

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a therapeutic theoretical model developed by Marsha Linehan in the 1980s to treat individuals with significant mental health challenges, including emotional dysregulation and suicidal behaviors. Many mental health professionals consider DBT as the ‘gold standard’ for treating the mental health condition called Borderline Personality Disorder. However, DBT has since been adapted and proven to be effective for other mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, PTSD, and substance abuse.

The 4 Modules of DBT

• Mindfulness: Observing yourself and situations in a nonjudgmental manner, identifying triggers and urges without automatically acting on them.
• Distress Tolerance: Dealing with overwhelming situations more effectively, without making the situation worse than it is.
• Emotion Regulation: Recognizing when intense emotions arise and managing them in more productive and effective ways.
• Interpersonal Effectiveness: Communicating with others in effective ways, and being able to set boundaries with others, while maintaining your self-respect and important relationships.

 

In this blog, we’ll dive deeper into the Mindfulness module of DBT and outline practical strategies you can incorporate into your daily life.

“Mindfulness gives you time. Time gives you choices. Choices, skillfully made, lead to freedom.”

– Henepola Gunaratana

Mindfulness

We’ll begin with Mindfulness. Mindfulness is awareness. Many of us spend our days in a state of “mindlessness”. We’re distracted and tuned out to our surroundings and often overlook important information that can help us make better choices. We can also spend TOO much time in our heads trying to process everything that we completely lose sight of reality and instead get caught up in negative self-talk.

If you’re brand new to the idea of mindfulness, it can feel overwhelming at first. It’s best to start with small simple practices. Try going outside and pay attention to what’s around you. Name the sounds, sights, smells, and anything that you can take in with your 5 senses. Now take a few deep breaths. Feel the air go in and out and name what those sensations are. Is the air cold? Warm? How does your body feel when you take those deep breaths? Spend a few minutes observing and describing your experience, without judgment.

Another good way to practice mindfulness is to take a daily mundane task and slow it down. Break down each step and observe and describe what you experience. For example, try brushing your teeth using this practice. What does the toothpaste taste like? How does the toothbrush feel in your hand? What does it look like?

During these practices, you might notice thoughts of wanting to hurry up and speed through so you can get on with your day. That’s normal! We’re not used to slowing things down, it makes sense that you might have a sense of urgency with this practice. When that urge to rush comes up, try to take one deep breath and acknowledge that feeling, but don’t act on it just yet. Try to give yourself at least one deep breath and be aware of that desire without acting on it. Don’t beat yourself up or self-criticize because you don’t think you’re “doing it right.” If you’re showing up to the practice, you’re doing it right.

These exercises seem simple, but they can be difficult and feel strange if you aren’t used to them. As you practice, try to be aware of any self-judgments that come up. When you notice yourself getting caught up in criticism, gently guide your thoughts back to the practice. Over time, you’ll begin to cultivate a space to experience your thoughts, feelings, and experiences without judgment or self-criticism.

Find more mindfulness exercises to practice here and additional activities here.

Wise Mind

Wise Mind is a concept taught in DBT that refers to the synthesis between our “rational” mind and “emotional” mind.

The rational mind, also sometimes called the “reasonable” mind, is where our logic lives. When we approach situations using our rational mind, we’re focusing on facts rather than feelings. Examples of this might be figuring out a math problem, driving a car, measuring ingredients for a recipe, following a schedule, etc.

Emotion mind is when we’re being driven by our feelings. Logic and facts become distorted when we are emotional and this might result in impulsive decision making or lashing out. Emotion mind isn’t all negative though. In an emotional mind, we engage in pleasurable activities like snuggling with a puppy or being overjoyed at the good news.

Neither states of mind are inherently good or bad. They’re simply different approaches and ways of conceptualizing situations and experiences.

A wise Mind is where the emotional mind and rational mind are balanced. It’s usually a quiet feeling, a sense of inner knowing. Have you ever had a time when you just “knew” something? Maybe it was a quiet nudge in a certain direction that turned out to be in your favor. That’s Wise Mind!

Accessing our Wise Mind can be difficult, and you might sometimes feel like you don’t even have a Wise Mind, but you do. We all do. It just might take some practice to discover what it feels like for you. One way to think about Wise Mind is the calm after the storm. Sometimes after a big emotion, we calm down and begin processing things differently. You might consider alternative perspectives that you hadn’t been able to before or have different insights into the issue. That’s your Wise Mind talking!

So, how can we practice accessing Wise Mind outside of those moments? The more we practice feeling what our Wise Minds are, the better we can access it in moments of high intensity.

One way to practice is through deep breathing, and focusing on that space between your inhale and your exhale. Take a big, full deep breath in and pause for a second or two. Pay attention to that little pause before exhaling. After you exhale, center your attention on that space at the bottom of the exhale. How does it feel? Quiet? Weird? Unknown? Lean into it and keep practicing!

Learn more about Wise Mind and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy here and explore additional Wise Mind exercises here.

 

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Keep practicing these skills and stay tuned to explore more means of healthy distraction skills to help you manage difficult situations calmly. We encourage you to check out our other blogs and resources for further information and exercises to practice along your journey to move forward as a happier and holistically healthier you!

Interested in working on these skills with a professional in therapy?