Er...

Different therapists are different and I guess one person could have a good experience in DBT while another person could have a not so good one...

But a couple things you said didn't sound like how DBT is supposed to go:

> you are on a strict schedule right down to dietary schedule and all work must be done in order because one skill leads into the next and what you learn in each lesson is carried over into the rest of the lessons and homework.

To the best of my knowledge the dietary stuff is educational in the sense of encouraging one to pay attention to how eating different kinds of foods (or not eating food) can affect ones mood. The order of the skills is varied by different programs. Mindfulness tends to be done first, but I think that the ordering is somewhat arbitrary.

> with DBT you will be having structured classes in looking at your problems and resulting behaviours from an unemotional point of view and changing those emotional thoughts and behaviors so that you are not so emotional when things don't go right for you.

If that was your experience with it... Then that really sux. My experience was different. Basically... There are always two options. One can accept things or one can attempt to change things. Change is thus only one half of the picture instead of being the total picture (as it tends to be in CBT). I did an awful lot on learning to be non-judgemental of myself (and my alters) so that I could become aware of my / their feelings like sadness and rage without judging myself and feeling even worse... I did a lot of work on being aware of and accepting my / their emotions.

The idea of homework is that learning new skills takes practice. One has to practice when one is in a good place so that when one is in a bad place one is able to use the skills.

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience with DBT myself :-(