DBT Made Simple: A Step-by-Step Guide to Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Originally developed for the treatment of borderline personality disorder, dialectical behaviour therapy, or DBT, has rapidly become one of the most popular and most effective treatments for all mental health conditions rooted in out-of-control emotions. However, there are limited resources for psychologists seeking to use DBT skills with individual clients. In the tradition of ACT Made Simple, DBT Made Simple provides clinicians with everything they need to know to start using DBT in the therapy room.

• The first part of this book briefly covers the theory and research behind DBT and explains how DBT differs from traditional cognitive behavioural therapy approaches.
• The second part focuses on strategies professionals can use in individual client sessions, while the third section teaches the four skills modules that form the backbone of DBT: core mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

The book includes handouts, case examples, and example therapist-client dialogue: everything clinicians need to equip their clients with these effective and life-changing skills.

"DBT Made Simple is an incredibly useful book that distills key elements of DBT into a clear, concise, and practical guide. Illuminating clinical examples bring to life several DBT strategies and principles, and practitioners will appreciate the many useful forms and handouts provided in this book. I recommend this book to students and mental health professionals seeking a concise, practical introduction to DBT."
- Alexander L. Chapman, PhD, RPsych, author of The Borderline Personality Disorder Survival Guide and associate professor in the department of psychology at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

"Sheri Van Dijk has done it again! Her latest work teaches therapists how to use DBT with a wide variety of clients. She has accomplished an amazing feat—making DBT easy to understand without sacrificing its enormous depth. This is the book therapists have been waiting for."
- Paula Fuchs, PsyD, assistant clinical professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

"Over the years, practitioners of dialectical behavior therapy have been searching for different training resources to deliver DBT in the therapy room in an effective way. Van Dijk’s book provides a fantastic contribution to DBT literature for one main reason: her approach to DBT is hands-on. DBT Made Simple is full of clinical applications, illustrative examples, sample dialogues, and troubleshooting tips. Her style is both engaging and straightforward, making of this book an easy and digestible resource for all clinicians, novice or advanced, who are interested in making a difference in their DBT clinical work."
- Patricia E. Zurita Ona, PsyD, psychologist at East Bay Behavior Therapy Center and coauthor of Mind and Emotions