Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Wellness and Recovery: Interventions and Activities for Diverse Client Needs, by Andrew Bein. John Wiley & Sons, 2014




This book was written for therapists, but in simple enough language that it is accessible to mental health care consumers. It does presuppose a familiarity with DBT but it’s not necessary to use the book; Dr. Bein explains things well enough to get through it even if one has never been exposed to DBT or similar therapies.

Bein’s version combines the therapy of DBT with a philosophy of mindfulness similar to Buddhism and other spiritual paths, which offers great help in emotional regulation. This mindfulness teaches the client to not judge themselves or their thoughts & emotions, but to simply observe the emotions as they occur and take the time to decide how (and if) to act on them. It also teaches that thoughts & emotions are just that: they are not truths. The client does not have to react to the thought because it is not the truth. It can be ignored.

This method also teaches the clinician that they don’t get to be the one to set the goals for the client. Rather than striving to make the client compliant in taking his meds and showing up for group reliably, the client gets to set the goals. Does the client want to live on their own? What will they have to change to do that? Do they want to have a job? What do they have to do to manage that? The clinician has to accept the client, not remake them into a good little success story.

The first part of the book talks about the therapy and how it works. Chapter 6, however, is a set of 15 lessons and activities for the clinician and client to work through. They seem to be clearly written and I believe they could be used by a client on their own if they do not have access to a clinician using this system.

I think this is a great system and a great book and I hope it becomes popular. 

This book was provided to me by the Amazon Vine program in return for an honest review. This in no way influenced my review. 


 
The above is an affiliate link; if you click through and buy something, Amazon will give me a few cents. 

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