Dbt Groups: What Was Your Experience?

[Seasounds]

My niece is need of help. I have read about these groups, and my therapist has told me how they are run.The missing piece of knowledge that I need is, "What was it like, what was your experience, from being in a DBT group?

Thank you, ahead of time, to anyone who shares their experience.

 

[Nighthawk]

I think everyones experiance is unique. I hated DBT group and had to go to one on one DBT therapy to try learn the skills. DBT group is like going to school im my opinion. It is not suppotive.Very structured and a heck of a lot of work,

 

[FindingMyself88]

I never got to finish the material and had a horrid experience that resulted in the tipping point of me attempting suicide and ending up in the psych unit. Now understand it was not the material, but the therapist. She was so rigid in her thoughts that she left me feeling hopeless about my current situation.

So after that, I stuck with just my trauma therapy work. I do think some of the material was beneficial, but I think the manner in which it was given was too rigid. I would definitely check the therapist/group out first.

 

[joeylittle]

I love a good DBT group! @Nighthawlk is right though - a "classic" DBT program, where you commit to it for six months (generally), do concurrent once-a-week therapy with a DBT therapist, and generally have 24/7 access to skills support - I did a program like that for about a month, and it was exactly like going to school. It was a ton of work, there was no sharing of feelings or support inside the group setting, and personally I found I didn't like my group or the leader. And then I was in an accident, so I stopped going.

I've also done DBT groups through Intensive outpatient programs - these are sometimes a M-W-F thing, or it can be an every day for a shorter period of time kind of structure. The ones I've done were essentially a phase inside of a partial hospitalization program. And all my experience inside those was really, really positive. The DBT stuff wasn't so rigid, they just stayed with the basic concepts and how they could be useful. It's frustrating, sure, when the group doesn't have a good dynamic or the leader is not strong. But, as a way to be introduced to a whole lot of mental health concepts, and get some very practical skills, and also have a set place I needed to be every day instead of just never leaving the house....all this was really good for me.

So, a "classic" DBT group - very rigid, kind of cold, homework for days, but it really makes you do the work, and I do think DBT is a powerful way to attack certain kinds of problems. If your niece is diagnosed with Borderline personality disorder, she would benefit enormously from that kind of structure. I think there is no sharing specifically because DBT was developed for Borderlines, and the tendency to emotionally act out and/or ONLY express through emotion is something they need to curb. So feelings go in therapy, skills go in group.

A PHP or an IOP that has either CBT or DBT as part of its core - doing a few weeks in one of those can really be a great first step. it's support AND skills-based, you learn a lot of basic ways to talk and think about mental health, and everyone there has really different issues, but everyone is struggling, and they weren't dogmatic. That (for me at least) was a profound step in understanding that i wasn't the only person in the world with some of the feelings I had.

 

[Nighthawk]

DBT in itself is very rigid. I to be nice hated DBT with a passion and found it to be extremly triggering.

 

[xena21]

I also hate DBT groups. I have been to a few at the prodding of my therapists and each time I have disliked it very much. It was too much for my head to wrap around in the sense that I was already triggered for a lot of the day, and trying to learn that information or at least add it to my brain was just overwhelming for me. I was triggered all the time. I absolutely hated it.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Made me so much worse! I didn't have control of my money at the time and it ended up spinning me SO out of control that the family member controlling my finances said NO MORE DBT and refused to pay for it. So that was the end of that! Ido use the skills I learned in the manual though.

 

[KwanYingirl]

I was introduced to DBT many years aho, but couldn't find a group that my insurance would pay for. Instead I got the book written for therapists and read that. Very triggering-abandoned that.

Fast forward six years. I was in an intensive outpatient program for suicide prevention. We were taught DBT skills. In this format it wasn't too triggering and I got a lot of good advice from this program. When I was released, my exit plan was to include participation in a DBT group. The only one I could find that my insurance would pay for-the therapist told me I wouldn't fit in with the group and she rejected me.

I got a new therapist after my IOP and she asked me to buy the DBT Workbook. It was way too triggering.

Now it's about four years later and my current trauma therapist is teaching me the skills by very carefully photocopying pages in my workbook that are very helpful and not triggering. This is working out really well for me, as the "assignment-homework" dynamic is easy for me. It's concrete and I'm not being triggered and I have developed some great skills to help me not go to overwhelm with my emotions.

 

[Hashi]

DBT in itself is very rigid

I'm afraid I don't understand this statement. I haven't had access to a group or DBT therapist so I've had to try to learn DBT skills from videos and workbooks, including those by Marsha Linehan who's the creator of DBT.

I haven't found anything rigid about DBT in itself. I do think it's a commitment. I have no idea what a group experience is like, or what particular people have experienced with groups. Personally, I wouldn't call DBT rigid in itself.

 

[Nighthawk]

As I said each persons experiance is unique @Hashi . Rigid a box not willing to compromise. As it is evidence based they tend to stick to the evidence even if it is not the right thing for the client.

I am glad you had some success. Some of the skills are useful but I belive one can obtain those through yoga or meditation.

 

[Hashi]

I edited my post to emphasise the difference between groups and between DBT "in itself".

When you say "they tend to stick to the evidence...." that sounds like a group to me, since Marsha Linehan who developed DBT is only one person. I'm not questioning your experience of doing DBT in a group, only wondering about your comment about "DBT in itself". Since "DBT in itself" was all I had access to.

 

[Nighthawk]

My experiance with DBT in group and with a one on one therapist where the same. If only utilizing the DBT material it might not have any ridgidity to it at all. I was so turned off by it that I have not re looked at the material.