>I've only done cognitive therapy and I SUCK at it.

Heh heh, I remember that thought...

>Replace the distorted negative thought with a more realistic positive thought? Dang, if I knew it to begin with, I wouldn't need therapy.

Yeah, thats pretty much what I think too!

>I just can't master it. My thought processes are so majorly screwed up and my self-esteem is non-existant.

Hmm. I personally found CBT to result in my thinking those things... Cognitive restructuring was what I just could not seem to do. The premiss is that faulty thinking CAUSES intense emotional responses. Therefore if you are in emotional distress that is because you are thinking faulty thoughts. I despaired about then. Not even capable of logical thought, eh? Also, I felt mad in response to that. Also I felt unheard in response to that. Also I do not believe that my distress is always caused by faulty thinking.

> So, what is DBT and how does it differ?

Anyways DBT is different because although cognitive restructuring is a little tiny part of it DBT offers a lot more. An integral part of the treatment is skills training. Teaching you skills so that you are able to alleviate distress. So that you are able to learn and practice different ways of communicating with people. An important part of it is practicing ways of acting different.

I found it to be much more than Cognitive Behaviour Therapy because it offered me a whole new way of being without telling me I was wrong all the time. How are you supposed to learn to trust yourself when you are just told you can't even think straight - the implication being that you are causing your own distress as a result of your faulty cognitions. The word for it is invalidating.

It can be hard to get into a DBT program. But IMO it is worth a try. It is intensive. It is hard work. But it was worth it for me. Otherwise some clinicians are more or less influenced by DBT theory (which tries to balance acceptance of things just the way they are with strategies for effecting change). IMO acceptance is what is missing from CBT.