The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-01 11:59:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Matthew McKay
- ISBN：1684034582
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Summary
A clear and effective approach to learning evidence-based DBT skills—now in a fully revised and updated second edition。
Do you have trouble managing your emotions？ First developed by Marsha M。 Linehan for treating borderline personality disorder， dialectical behavior therapy （DBT） has proven effective as treatment for a range of other mental health problems， and can greatly improve your ability to handle distress without losing control and acting destructively。 However， to make use of these techniques， you need to build skills in four key areas: distress tolerance， mindfulness， emotion regulation， and interpersonal effectiveness。
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook， a collaborative effort from three esteemed authors， offers evidence-based， step-by-step exercises for learning these concepts and putting them to work for real and lasting change。 Start by working on the introductory exercises and， after making progress， move on to the advanced-skills chapters。 Whether you’re a mental health professional or a general reader， you'll benefit from this clear and practical guide to better managing your emotions。
This fully revised and updated second edition also includes new chapters on cognitive rehearsal， distress tolerance， and self-compassion。 Once you’ve completed the exercises in this book and are ready to move on to the next level， check out the authors’ new book， The New Happiness Workbook。
This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit — an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy （CBT） principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties。 Used alone or in conjunction with therapy， our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives。
Find more help online at elearning。newharbinger。com。 New Harbinger Online Learning offers web-based treatment for borderline personality disorder （BPD） and emotion dysregulation based on the book The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook。 Other New Harbinger Online Learning modules offer treatment for stress， anxiety， depression， and anger。
Do you have trouble managing your emotions？ First developed by Marsha M。 Linehan for treating borderline personality disorder， dialectical behavior therapy （DBT） has proven effective as treatment for a range of other mental health problems， and can greatly improve your ability to handle distress without losing control and acting destructively。 However， to make use of these techniques， you need to build skills in four key areas: distress tolerance， mindfulness， emotion regulation， and interpersonal effectiveness。
The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook， a collaborative effort from three esteemed authors， offers evidence-based， step-by-step exercises for learning these concepts and putting them to work for real and lasting change。 Start by working on the introductory exercises and， after making progress， move on to the advanced-skills chapters。 Whether you’re a mental health professional or a general reader， you'll benefit from this clear and practical guide to better managing your emotions。
This fully revised and updated second edition also includes new chapters on cognitive rehearsal， distress tolerance， and self-compassion。 Once you’ve completed the exercises in this book and are ready to move on to the next level， check out the authors’ new book， The New Happiness Workbook。
This book has been awarded The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Self-Help Seal of Merit — an award bestowed on outstanding self-help books that are consistent with cognitive behavioral therapy （CBT） principles and that incorporate scientifically tested strategies for overcoming mental health difficulties。 Used alone or in conjunction with therapy， our books offer powerful tools readers can use to jump-start changes in their lives。
Find more help online at elearning。newharbinger。com。 New Harbinger Online Learning offers web-based treatment for borderline personality disorder （BPD） and emotion dysregulation based on the book The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook。 Other New Harbinger Online Learning modules offer treatment for stress， anxiety， depression， and anger。
Reviews
Audrey
，
I come to this book from an unconventional place。 I'm a teacher。 2-year-olds。 I know a lot of people who have mental health challenges， and， in many ways， those challenges mirror the struggles of my students。 Having overwhelming emotions is basically the definition of the 2-year-old experience。 Moreover， the way you're taught to deal with （or not deal with， or feel shame about， or suppress） your emotions in childhood is known to be predictive of your habits and skills in adulthood。 So， I started I come to this book from an unconventional place。 I'm a teacher。 2-year-olds。 I know a lot of people who have mental health challenges， and， in many ways， those challenges mirror the struggles of my students。 Having overwhelming emotions is basically the definition of the 2-year-old experience。 Moreover， the way you're taught to deal with （or not deal with， or feel shame about， or suppress） your emotions in childhood is known to be predictive of your habits and skills in adulthood。 So， I started to think: neural pathways are being formed at 2。 Habits of mind are being developed。 Social-emotional curricula are all the rage right now because of that， but they often don't have much relation to the methods that are proven to work for adults。 So， I started to wonder: what would happen if I went straight to the source， took skills that had been demonstrated to be effective in adults， and taught them to 2-year-olds？ Was it even possible？ Could it work as a kind of prophylactic to help children build healthy coping skills and the corresponding neural networks in early childhood， so they would have the tools to respond in healthy and life-giving ways in adulthood？ Having read this book， I was surprised at how many of the skills can be adapted for young children--and I found that the results were more or less immediate。 My kids really responded to it， especially the coping statements。 Yesterday， one of my students left for an older class， and her best friend was devastated。 Before reading this， I probably would have responded just with a combination of comfortm listening， and distraction。 Because of this book， I started with a coping statement: "this will be a hard day， but you will get through it， and I will help you。" His whole body relaxed just hearing that。 I had the same experience talking with a child anout the intensity of her anger。 She was absolutely overcome by her anger。 Rather than simply asking her to name her feeling， as I would have done before， I also asked the intensity of the feeling--whether she was a little mad or very mad。 She said she was a little mad， and， immediately， her body relaxed， as if the act of saying it out loud was itself calming。 I think the biggest insight for me was the extent to which secondary emotions （which I had never heard of） mediate the emotional experience。 My first student could handle feeling lonely once his secondary emotions of feeling scared and overwhelmed by that lonliness subsided。 My second student was less scared and overwhelmed by her angry feelings once she identified that she was actually only a little angry。 The other big takeaway for me was to ditch the language most social-emotional education programs to describe coping skills。 These programs often talk about things you can do to help yourself feel better。 But that goes against the concept of radical acceptance of emotions and implies that you should deal with emotions by getting rid of them。 Because of this book， I've started talking about coping skills as a way to take care of yourself when you feel ____。 The coping skills are exactly the same， but the kids are really responding differently with that change in language。 We may never know if any of this helps mitigate the effects of any trauma and/or mental illness the children experience in their lives （though I certainly hope so）， but it's definitely increased the self-confidence， resilience， and basic well-being of my students。 I'll definitely continue learning about it in the future。The book itself is highly informative， accessible， and well-organized。 It's laid out in such a way that it's easy to read the first time and easy to use as a reference later。 The activities are clear and easy to implement。 。。。more
Carrie Dawn
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Very good and useful resource。
Emily
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Essential worksheets and tools for clinicians to use with clients。 Seems to be missing some foundational DBT concepts， like DEARMAN， but provides a solid outline of the 4 modules。
Marissa Linderman
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This should be taught in schools and it should be started young。 I think we'd see a lot less depression， anxiety， and addiction in people if this， and DBT in general， were part of a core educational curriculum。 So many people do not know how to soothe themselves and cope with the hardships that come with being alive。 We are taught so many poor coping skills by the media， news， and society in general。 This book is wonderful and Dialectical Behavior Therapy saved my life。 This should be taught in schools and it should be started young。 I think we'd see a lot less depression， anxiety， and addiction in people if this， and DBT in general， were part of a core educational curriculum。 So many people do not know how to soothe themselves and cope with the hardships that come with being alive。 We are taught so many poor coping skills by the media， news， and society in general。 This book is wonderful and Dialectical Behavior Therapy saved my life。 。。。more
Ralique
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Mostly review - calm down and accept feelings first， stay in present moment， then decide what to do
Claire
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Several good， practical exercises that can be modified for use away from the book。
Robert Gaede
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Practical advice and great insights on how to apply mindfulness in your daily life
Anna
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I love this workbook。 But it's not something that should be read like this and having it in my Currently Reading is stressing me out。 I love this workbook。 But it's not something that should be read like this and having it in my Currently Reading is stressing me out。 。。。more
Sarah Liddle
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Lots of exercises。
Jimmy
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Lots of exercises， but nothing new fundamentally。 It offers hardly any explanation or theory。---I read the whole book again。 It's more like a comprehensive therapy system， the core of it is mindfulness， with some additional communication techniques， Not very different from ACT。In terms of mindfulness， better to learn mindfulness directly from other sources。 Lots of exercises， but nothing new fundamentally。 It offers hardly any explanation or theory。---I read the whole book again。 It's more like a comprehensive therapy system， the core of it is mindfulness， with some additional communication techniques， Not very different from ACT。In terms of mindfulness， better to learn mindfulness directly from other sources。 。。。more
Rebecca
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I wonderful "bible" to dialectical behavior skills， which are helpful with a very wide number of mental health challenges， I am using the skills myself and teaching them to others also。 I wonderful "bible" to dialectical behavior skills， which are helpful with a very wide number of mental health challenges， I am using the skills myself and teaching them to others also。 。。。more
Bryan Malikov
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This book definitely includes skills， techniques， frames-of-mind， and exercises that would help anyone with BPD---or anyone with overwhelming emotions---if understood， practiced， and applied。However， this book suffers from the same draw-back that every self-help or how-to book does: its efficacy to affect change depends on the reader's effort。 By this metric， a how-to book should be judged on these criteria:1） The prose makes the reader want to continue reading2） How easy the book makes the mate This book definitely includes skills， techniques， frames-of-mind， and exercises that would help anyone with BPD---or anyone with overwhelming emotions---if understood， practiced， and applied。However， this book suffers from the same draw-back that every self-help or how-to book does: its efficacy to affect change depends on the reader's effort。 By this metric， a how-to book should be judged on these criteria:1） The prose makes the reader want to continue reading2） How easy the book makes the material for the reader to learn and recall3） How well the book anticipates any difficulty the reader may face in applying the material4） Whether or not there are better books on the same topicI will say that this book excels at 3）。 And it's worth owning just for this aspect。 The authors definitely are aware that readers of this topic are likely to have difficulty following through on applying the material， and they go out of their way---as best as they can in a book--to give the reader the tools necessary to affect positive change in the reader's life。This books is however mediocre on 1） and 2）。 The writing was certainly clear and easy to follow， but I wouldn't say it was impactful。 I also definitely feel like I've learned something， but I would say that it also feels like there's more to be learned that the authors could have conveyed with a few edits。 Having read it once， I can tell you that the four DBT skills are Distress Tolerance， Mindfulness （the core one）， Emotion Regulation， and Interpersonal Effectiveness。 I can tell you that the most important techniques are REST， radical acceptance， wise mind， beginner's mind， mindful breathing， emotion exposure， defusion （of thoughts， judgments， and emotions）， active listening， assertiveness， and negotiation skills。 But I am left thirsty for more structure to these topics that I am going to have to develop myself on a second read-thru。 There is a sentence rather late in the book that explains that the four areas of DBT do overlap quite a bit and share techniques。 This is the kind of comment that should come basically in the first chapter。This is the first book on DBT that I have read。 So， I will have to come back and address 4） later。 。。。more
Marija
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Great book for people who need simple but effective strategies to cope with anxiety/depression and other mental health challenges。 Exercises are described simply without going too much into details， love it！
Bethany
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3。5/5 starsMy therapist wanted me to get this workbook and work my way through it。 Chapters 1-8 were not very helpful for me。 I don't need the help with the mindfulness stuff， but I really appreciated the interpersonal effectiveness skills chapters （ch。 9-10）。 THAT is where I needed the help。 3。5/5 starsMy therapist wanted me to get this workbook and work my way through it。 Chapters 1-8 were not very helpful for me。 I don't need the help with the mindfulness stuff， but I really appreciated the interpersonal effectiveness skills chapters （ch。 9-10）。 THAT is where I needed the help。 。。。more
Khalil
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C'est un bon livre facile à lire et bien organisé。 Il représente une bonne initiation à la thérapie comportementale et dialectique。 C'est un bon livre facile à lire et bien organisé。 Il représente une bonne initiation à la thérapie comportementale et dialectique。 。。。more
Rick Mata-Md
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Matthew McKay did a great job of putting real life exercises in an easy to read format for grounding and mindfulness！Will always use this manual as a great reference。
Stevie
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This book truly changed my life。 I will recommend it for the rest of my life。The workbook provides help with accepting one's situation and making healthy changes。 Through it， I have learned how to self soothe myself， find calm in this rough time， and listen to myself more。 There is enough information on each topic to give a great overview of DBT。 The activities are really fascinating and were actually fun to do。 The reasons for the four stars are that the worksheets are hard to make copies of an This book truly changed my life。 I will recommend it for the rest of my life。The workbook provides help with accepting one's situation and making healthy changes。 Through it， I have learned how to self soothe myself， find calm in this rough time， and listen to myself more。 There is enough information on each topic to give a great overview of DBT。 The activities are really fascinating and were actually fun to do。 The reasons for the four stars are that the worksheets are hard to make copies of and there are way too many exercises that require you to be in a zen mood。。except that you need to stop and read the instructions。The worksheets， thankfully enough， are available online and the book gives links。 But for the meditation exercises， there is nothing。 No mention of a CD or guided MP3 or anything。 So just realize that before you get into it。 You will probably just have to record those before you get started。I already plan on keeping and referring to my copy for years to come。 Really great for anybody who is looking for help with emotion regulation and stability。 。。。more
Lauren Cautilli
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This workbook has a ton of useful coping mechanisms and information on managing overwhelming emotions and interpersonal relationships。
Emma
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A lot of the skills are Buddhist meditation practices。 Breathing， being mindful， progressive muscle relaxation， one thing at a time。 But there's also distraction as a strategy， skillful communication， self care A lot of the skills are Buddhist meditation practices。 Breathing， being mindful， progressive muscle relaxation， one thing at a time。 But there's also distraction as a strategy， skillful communication， self care 。。。more
Ashley Peterson
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The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook by Matthew McKay， Jeffrey C。 Wood， and Jeffrey Brantley is a self-help workbook that covers the major skills involved in dialectical behavior therapy （DBT）。DBT is considered the gold standard for the treatment of borderline personality disorder， but its usefulness is not limited to people with BPD。 DBT is very skills-based， and many of the skills are quite broadly applicable。The introduction of this book indicates that it’s written both for people The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook by Matthew McKay， Jeffrey C。 Wood， and Jeffrey Brantley is a self-help workbook that covers the major skills involved in dialectical behavior therapy （DBT）。DBT is considered the gold standard for the treatment of borderline personality disorder， but its usefulness is not limited to people with BPD。 DBT is very skills-based， and many of the skills are quite broadly applicable。The introduction of this book indicates that it’s written both for people who are already doing DBT as well as people with no background in DBT but are struggling with overwhelming emotions。 For people who are familiar with DBT， you’ll notice that this book doesn’t make a lot of use of the common acronyms for groups of skills; for example， while ABC PLEASE is described， that acronym isn’t used。The book takes a very matter of fact tone， and provides clear explanations。 It is very much a workbook， with written exercises interspersed frequently throughout。 The worksheets are laid out simply and easy to follow， and there are lots of thought-provoking questions。The book is divided into four sections based on the major DBT modules: distress tolerance， mindfulness， emotional regulation， and interpersonal effectiveness。 Each section is further divided into basic and advanced skills。For each strategy， there are multiple different ideas suggested for implementation， so even if some ideas don’t work for you there are plenty of others to try。Some highlights of what’s covered:pleasurable distractions （with a 2-page list of over 100 suggestions）self-soothing for each of the sensesradical acceptance and nonjudgmental attitudedescribing and facing emotions， plus explanations regarding how emotions workwise mindhow maladaptive behaviors （like cutting） can get reinforced because of short-term rewardsopposite action （whatever your emotional urge is telling you to do， do the opposite）effective interpersonal communication skillsusing assertiveness scriptssaying noThe book also talks about coping thoughts and self-affirming statements， and these are realistic – there’s no delving into rainbows and unicorns territory。While people with borderline personality disorder would likely get the most benefit from doing formal DBT， DBT in self-help form could have a lot to offer for people with other diagnoses struggling with their emotions。 This workbook offers clear explanations and plenty of exercises for the reader to do， so I think it would be suitable for people with no knowledge of DBT。The tone of the writing is not especially engaging， but it’s neutral and non-judgmental， even when talking about fairly charged topics like manipulative behavior。Overall， I would say this book is a good choice if you want to give DBT a try。This review first appeared on https://mentalhealthathome。org/2020/0。。。 。。。more
Barbara
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Life changing
Kristina
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I took my time with this one。 I saturated myself in it。 I bought this for my practice so that I could lend it to clients or take worksheets from it for the same purpose， but it turned quickly into a resource for my personal use and I’ll have to buy another copy for my practice。 This resource is for anyone looking to regulate themselves better: feelings， thoughts， interpersonally， and in times of distress。 It’s an excellent， excellent tool with wide application and I will go back to it again and I took my time with this one。 I saturated myself in it。 I bought this for my practice so that I could lend it to clients or take worksheets from it for the same purpose， but it turned quickly into a resource for my personal use and I’ll have to buy another copy for my practice。 This resource is for anyone looking to regulate themselves better: feelings， thoughts， interpersonally， and in times of distress。 It’s an excellent， excellent tool with wide application and I will go back to it again and again。 I believe this book has changed me。 I tend towards being a reactive person。 Some tools have helped me learn how to slow down， how to see the good， how to create some distance between my thoughts， feelings， and myself。 I am so grateful to have this personal resource。 I do recommend you do each of the exercises rather than just read over them。 Mark the book up！ Don’t be afraid to sink your teeth into it。 。。。more
Tanya
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This work book is great for giving you suggestions on managing your emotions。 Not everything in this book is directed to everyone specifically。 （The first chapter had a lot of copeing suggestions that would be counter productive for me）。 This book is written to cover everyone， so some stuff may not pertain to you specifically。 It's also not trying to make you go straight from 100 to 0。 That's not realistic。 It would be more like going from 100 to 75， and slowly going down from there。If you have This work book is great for giving you suggestions on managing your emotions。 Not everything in this book is directed to everyone specifically。 （The first chapter had a lot of copeing suggestions that would be counter productive for me）。 This book is written to cover everyone， so some stuff may not pertain to you specifically。 It's also not trying to make you go straight from 100 to 0。 That's not realistic。 It would be more like going from 100 to 75， and slowly going down from there。If you have Borderline personality disorder this would be a good read。 It has a lot of strategies you can implement。 。。。more
Karin
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Very clear steps with multiple exercises to try at each step， making it easy to find what works for you！
Ava Emilie
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DBT was originally created to help people who struggle with borderline personality disorder。 I have found that these skills can be useful for everyone and anyone whether you struggle with mental illness or not。 This workbook is really great if you want to get started。 I really found it to be quite life changing and will continue to use them in my everyday life。
Amanda Kent
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The book goes into many skills and is loaded with content on how to relax yourself if you are prone to over emotion， sensitivity， anxiety， depression or some personality disorders that involve emotional regulation difficulties。 I found most of the book not all that helpful in that there is LOADS on meditation techniques but toward the end of the book is boundary setting， effective communication and a lot of NON BIAS content， great for those hard on others and themselves。 These chapters are fanta The book goes into many skills and is loaded with content on how to relax yourself if you are prone to over emotion， sensitivity， anxiety， depression or some personality disorders that involve emotional regulation difficulties。 I found most of the book not all that helpful in that there is LOADS on meditation techniques but toward the end of the book is boundary setting， effective communication and a lot of NON BIAS content， great for those hard on others and themselves。 These chapters are fantastic。 With so many skills to learn， its well laid out， easy to follow， lots of downloads too for practice and with so many different techniques， easy to find something thats right for you。 Great book。 Highly recommend for its purpose。 。。。more
Anna
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This is a great intro to DBT with lots of helpful worksheets。 I'm excited to apply some of these principles and interventions with clients。 This is a great intro to DBT with lots of helpful worksheets。 I'm excited to apply some of these principles and interventions with clients。 。。。more
Amanda
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If I only had read the first chapter of the book， I would have given it more stars。 The second chapter is very reliant on religion / spirituality， which is incredibly unhelpful for those of us who are not religious and actually have trauma from religion。 Also， as a scientist， I found the misinformation and conflation of scientific information to make is seem magical and divine to be extremely dishonest and disturbing。 Upon googling the authors of the book， I discovered that one runs a Christian If I only had read the first chapter of the book， I would have given it more stars。 The second chapter is very reliant on religion / spirituality， which is incredibly unhelpful for those of us who are not religious and actually have trauma from religion。 Also， as a scientist， I found the misinformation and conflation of scientific information to make is seem magical and divine to be extremely dishonest and disturbing。 Upon googling the authors of the book， I discovered that one runs a Christian Leadership program。 Religious beliefs should be kept far away from medicine， including Psychiatry and psychology。 If this man were my psychiatrist， I would complain to the Department oh Health。 。。。more
Miceál Wilson
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A useful range of strategies for improving emotion regulation capabilities and managing distress。
Briana Johnson
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