deliquesce: i was actually talking to my T about this yesterday. he mentioned he does DBT with almost every client that he sees. i told him i thought linehan is a crazy devil woman. he asked me if i had watched her in interview (i hadn't - only read her journal articles and books), and he encouraged me to do so. he says she's even scarier in the flesh. and that everyone he's spoken to thinks she's a crazy woman also. haha.

*scratching head*

Well, you know... sometimes I do think it's of enormous value to look those "crazy devils" in the eye and I still don't feel I have a good grasp on DBT or Marsha Linehan (Thanks for noting the correct spelling, pachyderm) but I'm also wondering if maybe some of the objection is that we might be looking at things from outside of the therapeutic container. Only a few contributors to the thread seem to have had the actual experience of DBT and all of them seem to identify some aspect of it that was personally therapeutic or beneficial to them -- but all of them also experienced that within the borders of a therapeutic relationship.

Perhaps part of what makes DBT valuable is that it can bring up triggery points but isn't the whole point of therapy to be able to move beyond being triggered? Perhaps therein lies the value of looking our devils in the eye. It's frightening and sometimes we might need to be prodded, provoked, encouraged or otherwise challenged to do so. In fact, it's possible that those who would insist on sheltering us might actually be holding us back through their own need to protect.

By the same token however, I still wouldn't say anyone must or should give DBT a shot or any other form of therapy that doesn't "fit" for them. If someone doesn't feel it would be beneficial and they're not willing to go there... from a therapeutic perspective it could only be harmful to attempt to force them. But sending out an invitation from time to time isn't necessarily a bad thing.