DBT skills training do - over ?

[JamesVee]

Have been through skills training once

Got lost pretty early on struggled with whole - heartedly filling diary cards, practicing skills homework, distress being the reason ( that and over thinking )

Did anyone struggle first time through and re - do the skills groups for better results and a better understanding. Would love to hear from people distress is still high day to day, plenty of questions not many answers and difficulty around believing in skills and knowing which to use where. Weeee ~~~ 

[Surfbird]

Hi @JamesVee 

i have hard of quite a few people who do the dbt skills training over more than once, I was even just reading on one providers site you could do the dbt 8 week course to see if you be interested in doing a 6 or 12 month course. So it must be common I think. 

I am just looking courses for myself 

[livingon]

hey jamesVee, i have personally done DBT myself and have found it extremely helpful.

i did the 8 week mindfulness course before i started DBT so i could be more mentally prepared for the intense therapy course. everyday i found it a struggle. it is hard when you first start, im not going to lie about that. you have to look at yourself alot and work on your own issues as well as learning to cope with environmental issues that can cause alot of distress. the more i went though the easier it started to get. i have high distress most days. after i completed the course, i was so so much better, i cant even describe. it is the BEST thing i have ever done for myself. i would do it again in a heartbeat. 

what i found helpful is the people i met in the group therapy. everyone is going through similiar stuff and you just know you are no longer alone. i also found it helpful when i studied what the therapy does to the brain. This therapy actually helps re-train your brain. to me the therapy is scientific, it made so much sense on how the therapy works for the mental brain, and it made me feel that it is really worth the learning. i really reccomend that you give it another go when you feel strong enough in yourself. maybe research it abit and try get abit more understanding of therapies used in DBT. the lady that created DBT actually has it herself.  i hope this is helpful. 

[JamesVee]

Thanks for the message back

How long ago did you finish the full DBT course 

So you feel your distress day to day is noticeably lower ?

I'm still in I can't understand or handle this land, trecking through hell as they say but taking pride the smarts I'm able to muster to write these messages.. thanks mum

[JamesVee]

Also we weren't meant to communicate with others while going through our DBT program so I didn't get a chance to chat with other students 

[livingon]

I finished the course 2 years ago. I noticed my distress lowered massively. I actually did a mental health test before I started the course and then did the same one once I finished. The therapists showed me the difference between the results and I was so surprised that I had lowered my fear of emotions. It took me a while to open up and let myself have the help from the therapy. But when I gave in and started working on myself with effort, I found that I didn’t have to struggle with living. It used to be so painful having to live everyday. I felt so trapped in my own body and I could escape myself or anyone enough. I no longer have those thoughts or feelings. It was scary letting go of all of that too. Holding on to that way of living for so long, I didn’t no how else to live. I was very scared of changing but knew if I didn’t change then I wouldn’t survive. 

With having no communication with other people there..... we were advised not to. But what we do outside of therapy is our decision. When I spoke to others like me, we all understood what we could and could not talk about. And we had a number one rule that if someone expressed self harm then we had to report it. We all had a understanding and it was great. I still talk to the people i met from therapy. 

[JamesVee]

Thank's alot for the reply Livingon