Day: June 1, 2016

Day 1 Self-Care Challenge

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Day 1:  Self-Care Challenge:

Begin investing in taking care of you:  body, mind, and spirit.

DBT acknowledges that we must take care of all parts of ourselves in order to feel whole, integrated, and balanced, as illustrated in the PLEASE skills in the Emotion Regulation module.

By practicing these skills we reduce our emotional vulnerability:

  1. Treat Physical Illness:
  2. Balance Eating:  Do your best to eat regularly and healthfully and to stay hydrated.  Taking care by eating regularly helps us be less vulnerable to certain types of mood swings.
  3. Avoid Mood-Altering Drugs:
  4. Balance Sleep:
  5. Get Exercise:

When we take care of our physical needs and health, we become less susceptible to the erratic, often dys-regulated emotions than we can be vulnerable to when we are not.  If we are feeling more balanced due to this self-care, we may experience less impulsive urges, reducing our possibilities of self-sabotage.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

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“Research shows that Dialectical Behavior Therapy strengthens a person’s ability to handle distress without losing control or acting destructively” (McKay, Wood, and Brantley, 2007).

Sabotaging is a deliberate act of damaging, destroying, or obstructing something.

The key to the door you are seeking is within you.  You just have to believe it and be willing to use it.  It takes courage and strength, and with time, you can learn to Stop Sabotaging.

One of the greatest causes of human suffering is believing that we cannot tolerate being alone.  For many people with BPD, feeling alone creates an incredible amount of distress and sorrow.  Even the mere prospect of being alone can cause us to feel triggered.

All thoughts and feelings are not facts.  There are many instances where, by habit, a lack of knowing, or even fear, our thoughts are not in alignment with reality.  When we can tap into our “Wise Mind,” (Lineman, 1998) we can more rationally evaluate the truthfulness of a thought or feeling and then respond and behave in reaction to this interpretation, rather than our initial, impulsive reaction.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso