Parenting with DBT: A Skills-Based Approach No one told you parenting could be so challenging. You’re often overwhelmed and anxious, if not angry, sad, or feeling guilty. Raising kids is harder than you ever imagined. Often, it feels like you and your child on opposite teams, fighting for dominance or control. You want the bestContinue reading Parenting with DBT: A Series on Effective Parenting Strategies
Radical Acceptance: Reducing Suffering on Your Own Terms
The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain. – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow I have a confession. I dislike the phrase “It is what it is.” It seems reductive and invalidating. So, it might come as a surprise that I love the DBT skill, radical acceptance, which essentially embraces theContinue reading Radical Acceptance: Reducing Suffering on Your Own Terms
Self-Care: Why This Recommendation Can Backfire
The Problem with Self-Care You don’t have to look online too long, whether it be scrolling through articles or social media posts, to come across suggestions and recommendations for self-care. Overwhelmed or stressed? Take a break. Struggling with psychiatric symptoms? Get a massage. Mental health professionals are especially keen on recommending self-care. The problem withContinue reading Self-Care: Why This Recommendation Can Backfire
Beginner’s Mind
Be willing to be a beginner every single morning. – Meister Eckhart Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) refers to the concept of “Beginner’s Mind,” a Zen Buddhist practice of keeping your childlike openness and readiness to experience. Think about how often you zoom through your days mindlessly and robotically. Imagine if everything you did, you did insteadContinue reading Beginner’s Mind
Panic 101
One of the most frightening things that many of my patients experience is a panic attack – or worse, a series of them. According to the DSM-5 (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), a panic attack is: “An abrupt surge of intense fear or intense discomfort that reaches a peak within minutes, and during which time four (orContinue reading Panic 101
