Corso - Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

Stop Sabotaging:

A 31 Day DBT Challenge ToChange Your Life

Copyright 2012 Debbie Corso

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away toother people. If you would like to share this book with anotherperson, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Ifyoure reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was notpurchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.comand purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard workof this author.

This book is sold with the understanding thatthe writer is not engaged in providing psychological or otheradvice. Only a licensed psychiatric professional can provide adiagnosis and treatment information. If such services are needed,please contact a qualified professional.

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 DayDBT Challenge To Change Your Life is awork of nonfiction, but the writer has occasionally changed thenames and other identifying information about places and persons inorder to protect their privacy.

Clip Art Courtesy of:http://openclipart.org/

Photographs courtesy ofthe author unless where otherwise noted in Referencessection.

All RightsReserved

Introduction by Alicia Paz, M.A.,LLC

What isSabotaging?

Some Borderline Issues ThatLead to Sabotaging

Start of Daily DBTChallenge

Day 1: Self-Care Challenge

Day 2: Mindfulness and Self-Esteem Activity

Day 3: One Thing At A Time (One Mindfully)

Day 4: Identify Yourself

Day 5: Build Mastery

Day 6: Build Positive Experiences

Day 7: Be a DEAR

Day 8: Self Respect (FAST)

Day 9: Opposite Action

Day 10: Improve The Moment

Day 11: Work On A Relationship (GIVE)

Day 12: Think Dialectically

Day 13: Tapping Into Your Wise Mind

Day 14: Relax

Day 15: Contributing

Day 16: Pushing Away Thoughts

Day 17: Self Awareness

Day 18: Do Only What Is Needed

Day 19: Radical Acceptance

Day 20: Cope Ahead

Day 21: Crisis Survival Plan

Day 22: You Are Not Your Emotion

Day 23: Thoughts Are Just Thoughts

Day 24: Maybe Its Not All You

Day 25: Half Smile

Day 26: Self Love Collage

Day 27: The Electronic Break

Day 28: Practice Loving Kindness

Day 29: Re-Parenting Your Inner Child

Day 30: The Mindful Moment

Day 31: Set Your Intention

Wrap Up

References

About theAuthor

If we have a part to playin the misery were experiencing, this means that the power tochange our circumstances -- our very lives -- is also within us. Its allabout choices.

With that, Debbie Corso's book, StopSabotaging: A 31 Day Challenge to Change Your Life, begins.Corso, a blogger and author known for her caring guidance andhumorous quips, has overcome her BPD through intensive DBT and nowwrites blogs and tweets to assist others in finding peacewithin.

You don't need a diagnosis of BorderlinePersonality Disorder in order to get hooked on Corso's entertainingstyle of writing. She has great flow, and her stories are verypersonal, come straight from the heart, and are totallydown-to-earth and intriguing. Picture all of this substance,packed into one guidebook - 31 bold topics in an easy-to-understandebook!

Corso outlines Linehan's DBT skills in arelaxed format without losing any of the depth of classicDBT - pretty dialectical.

Stop Sabotaging: A 31-Day DBT Challenge toChange Your Life is an invaluable read for those who arebeginning, continuing, or have graduated from an intensiveDialectical Behavior Therapy program and need the security offurther guidance.

As a DBT Therapist, Debbie Corso's book,packed with emotion and experience, has helped me to move forwardwith clearer insight in mastering my professional skills.

So, relax, grab a cup of tea and yourjournal, open the window to your mind, and become magnetized tothis enlightening book.

Take Care.

Alicia Paz M.A., LLPC
www.aliciapaz.com
http://aliciapazdbt.blogspot.com/

Many of us with Borderline PersonalityDisorder (BPD) reach a point where we realize our lives have becomeunmanageable. We realize that the same old ways of reacting,responding, and behaving that weve held onto and practiced simplyno longer serve us. They are in fact, sabotaging everything we holddear.

If you are in this place, there is hope foryou. I was once in your shoes. My life was a mess. I made the samemistakes over and over again, and I was desperate to figure out howto change. The problem that I faced, and that you have likely facedup until now, is that I had absolutely no idea where to begin.

In my first book, HealingFrom Borderline Personality Disorder: My Journey Out Of HellThrough Dialectical Behavior Therapy , I shared mydocumented experience of being diagnosed with BPD and my intensivetwo years in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), the treatment ofchoice for people with BPD. I was very pleased to find that insharing my very private struggles publicly with others, many foundor restored hope in their own ability to save and enjoy their ownlives.

This book that you hold in your hands coversone of the questions I repeatedly received from readers hungry totake that first step toward healing and recovery: How did you stopsabotaging your life? And, more importantly, How do I stopsabotaging my life?

The fact that one would even ask thisquestion is a hopeful sign. Theres been a realization that thingsno longer work and that something must be done to bring healing toyour emotionally wounded soul.

The first part of the answer is: We get toCHOOSE how we'll respond when we are upset, emotional, and evenwhen we are triggered. This is incredibly liberating and empoweringwhen we truly "get it." Ill, of course, elaborate as we moveforward.

As youre learning this new information,taking it all in, processing it, and applying it, please keep inmind that you are not alone. As you read this book, think of themany others reading it alongside you around the world.

Think of the impact that willingly taking thetime to work on your core issues will have on you as well as theripple effects to those in your life and beyond. We cannot changewithout affecting others and our surroundings. Your decision toembark on a path of self-discovery and to do the tough work thatcomes along the way is a gift not only to yourself but to others aswell. I personally wish everyone would choose to becomeintrospective and work on being the best version of themselves.Youre doing that.

I will walk you through examples of howsabotaging has manifested in mine and others lives. Youllrecognize yourself in some of the stories, and thats okay, becausewe will then explore specific strategies of how I and others haveworked to repair and heal those broken parts of ourselves tocontribute to becoming more integrated, emotionally healthierpeople.

Many of us with BPD did not have whole,integrated examples to model healthy behaviors for us. We can onlylearn by observing others experiences and then deciding how tolive our own lives. This doesnt mean we get to wallow in this orgo on forever blaming others for our problems. At some point wemust pick ourselves up and choose to take responsibility for thelife we are creating going forward. DBT can help with this.

DBT is a set of skills created by Dr. MarshaLinehan that can be used to help people with a myriad of diagnoses.Research shows that Dialectical Behavior Therapy strengthens apersons ability to handle distress without losing control oracting destructively (McKay, Wood, and Brantley, 2007). Yourauthor has recovered from Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) andno longer meets the criteria. You will see mentions and referencesto BPD throughout the text.