Why DBT Works for Teens
Each age group of children and adolescents has unique needs. Some are developmental and individual to each teen. Recommendations of what supports wellbeing is often based on the results of research. What matters most to you is feeling secure about what your teen tries. Plus, you want it to be something they like!
DBT: What It Is & Its Benefits
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is used to guide people in learning ways to manage their emotions. It’s been studied with various age groups in research that show it’s useful for children from elementary ages through adolescence. Plus, it helps adults of all ages, doing so for people from various ethnic, racial, and gender-oriented backgrounds.
DBT addresses both social and emotional health, helping teens relate to other people as well as themselves. Teens learn the social situations that can trigger making wrong choices. They also learn skills to calm themselves.
Another benefit is that DBT can be learned and practiced in individual and group sessions. The therapy can take place in-person or online with their therapist or group. This means that your teen can choose what’s most comfortable for them. That, in and of itself, means a lot to adolescents and parents like you!
DBT for Teens’ Emotional and Mental Health
DBT is noted to have effectiveness for various diagnoses. These include depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, eating disorders, impulse control disorders, and emotion dysregulation. Positive outcomes have been noted for high school students who are exposed to the emotional stressors of trauma.
DBT helps teens to reduce rash behaviors, those impulses that inevitably get them in trouble. That’s when they hurt themselves or someone else.
Learning DBT skills helps middle school students too. They learn how to manage their emotional swings, like when they go from having negative feelings to feeling upbeat or hyper. DBT helps them to identify the emotions that are linked to these swings.
DBT: Steps & Skills
DBT uses the power of a person’s whole being to be in touch with their emotions. It does the same for your teen. It helps them to get in touch with triggers, like stimuli that are upsetting. Examples are:
Annoying stimuli like odors, lighting, and noise
Some people’s tone of voice or how they approach you and others
Internal thoughts that are upsetting, such as feeling unworthy
Being stressed by the state of the world
Worrying about family members
DBT assists your teen (and you too!) to:
Regulate emotions
Apply various skills to reduce feelings of overwhelm
Use senses to bring about balance and feel calm
The skills your teen learns through DBT are well suited for adolescents because they can:
Do them in the moment, as with mindfulness practice
Use their sensory awareness to alter how they’re feeling by using music, movement, or touch
Choose what does or doesn’t work for them
Do them with friends, doing so in-person or online
Learning about Wise Mind supports teens in learning to balance their emotional mind with their reasonable mind. This makes sense to them because it’s practical. Plus, it allows a teen to build on their individual powers, like:
Observation skills
Compassion and caring for others
Logical decision-making and planning
Physical prowess
Another skill, such as Calming Our Minds suggests steps to take when your teen has a sense of overwhelm. There’s a lot going on at school, and the same at home. There are tests and papers, plus a part-time job or school activity. They have so much on their mind! It would be wonderful to get away from it all, like going on vacation. Reality says otherwise, at least for now.
That’s where DBT comes in, as your teen can learn helpful ways to breathe and use the power of their mind and body to relax. That might be through yoga, meditation, journaling, and others.
All things to practice with their therapist and you! If you would like to learn more about DBT or how DBT can help your teen contact us today!
