Jeffrey C. Wood - Dialectical Behavior Therapy Diary

Publishers Note

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering psychological, financial, legal, or other professional services. If expert assistance or counseling is needed, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

NEW HARBINGER PUBLICATIONS is a registered trademark of New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

Distributed in Canada by Raincoast Books

Copyright 2021 by Matthew McKay and Jeffrey Wood

New Harbinger Publications, Inc.

5674 Shattuck Avenue

Oakland, CA 94609

www.newharbinger.com

Cover design by Amy Shoup

Acquired by Jess OBrien

Edited by Madison Davis

All Rights Reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Wood, Jeffrey C., author. | McKay, Matthew, author.

Title: Dialectical behavior therapy diary : monitoring your emotional regulation day by day / Jeffrey C. Wood, Matthew McKay.

Description: 2nd edition. | Oakland, CA : New Harbinger Publications, [2021] | Revision of: The dialectical behavior therapy diary / Matthew McKay, Jeffrey C. Wood. c2011. | Includes bibliographical references.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020047208 (print) | LCCN 2020047209 (ebook) | ISBN 9781684037735 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781684037742 (pdf) | ISBN 9781684037759 (epub)

Subjects: LCSH: Dialectical behavior therapy.

Classification: LCC RC489.B4 M425 2021 (print) | LCC RC489.B4 (ebook) | DDC 616.89/142--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047208

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020047209

Contents

Preface to the Second Edition

Since the introduction of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) in the early 1990s, by Marsha Linehan, PhD (Linehan 1993a), DBT has successfully been used around the world to help people struggling with overwhelming emotions and borderline personality disorder. However, in the last twenty-seven years DBT has also evolved and demonstrated effectiveness for treating other mental health problems, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, shame, anger, substance abuse, and more. In response, many clinicians and researchers have further added to the treatment to expand its usefulness. The result has led to Linehan publishing a new edition of her DBT Skills Training Manual (2015), as well as we, the authors of this book, publishing the revised second edition of The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook (McKay, Wood, and Brantley 2019). The improved treatment now includes skills such as values clarification, problem solving, exposure-based cognitive rehearsal, compassion meditations, physiological coping skills, and moremany of which youll find in this book too.

In order to help you practice DBT in the most effective way, New Harbinger Publications also offers The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Card Deck: 52 Practices to Balance Your Emotions Every Day . Many of the skills in the card deck are also included in this DBT Diary , and are marked with a symbol (*) so you can use them in conjunction with the cards.

We hope you find this DBT Diary a useful tool in your treatment. We are continually working to make DBT more effective and understandable, as the treatment itself continues to grow and include more skills.

Matthew McKay, PhD

Jeffrey C. Wood, PsyD

Introduction:

Dialectical Behavior Therapy

What Is DBT?

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was originally created by Dr. Marsha Linehan (1993a) to help people who were struggling with borderline personality disorder. It was designed to teach people practical skills to improve their lives, and research showed that it was very successful. Now DBT is also being used to help people who are struggling with a wide variety of other problems, including depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety. The common factor in all of these problems is overwhelming emotions.

Overwhelming Emotions

People who struggle with overwhelming emotions often feel vulnerable. At any point, the smallest trigger can lead to a tidal wave of emotions that leaves them feeling confused, angry, alone, hopeless, and in pain. Because of this, people who struggle with overwhelming emotions often try desperately to maintain control of their feelings, their relationships, the actions of others, and their environments. But no matter how hard they try, something always seems to go wrong and once again they get overwhelmed by their feelings. Some people with this problem have been struggling with it since childhood. Others are also dealing with the devastating impact of early physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. In addition, many of them struggle with problems like dysfunctional relationships, interference with their schoolwork or job, health problems, dangerous or self-harming behaviors, and an inability to focus or concentrate. The combined result of all these issues can be truly painful, both emotionally and physically.

The Four DBT Skills Groups

Luckily, DBT has successfully taught thousands of people how to cope with issues related to overwhelming emotions. In general, DBT teaches four groups of practical skills that will help you in many areas of your life:

1. Distress tolerance skills will help you distract from painful situations when you cant cope with them, and then relax and soothe yourself.
2. Mindfulness skills will help you stay focused on whats happening in the present moment, concentrate, and make healthier choices as a result.
3. Emotion regulation skills will help you identify and name your feelings, and then learn how to tolerate them without getting overwhelmed.
4. Interpersonal effectiveness skills will give you the tools to improve your relationships, ask for what you want in an effective way, say no, and establish appropriate boundaries, in a respectful, healthy way.

The Purpose of This Book

This book, The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Diary , will teach you many of the skills from the four groups. It was written as a companion to The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook (McKay, Wood, & Brantley 2019), where you will find in-depth explanations of each of the four skills groups, as well as additional exercises in each category.

This diary is designed to enhance the progress that youve already made in individual DBT treatment, in DBT group treatment, or on your own using The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook . (If you arent already familiar with DBT skills, you might want to consult The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook or a DBT therapist for assistance.)

In general, this DBT Diary has three purposes:

• To remind you of the core DBT skills in each of the four groups
• To record your successes each time you use one of the skills
• To help you observe and record the overall improvements in your life due to using these skills on a daily basis

Many people in DBT treatment mistakenly think that theyre using the skills more often than they really are, or they dont remember the small successes they have using their skills. Either way, they dont make improvements as quickly as they could. The goal of this book is to help you become more active in your treatment and find out for yourself what kind of impact the skills are having on your daily life.

How to Use the Diary

After the five chapters of this book, which review the core skills in each of the DBT skills groups, youll find enough blank diary pages for fifty-two weeksan entire year of recording your progress using DBT. In order to optimize your use of this diary, youll need to do three things: