[shamon86]

When you're feeling bad or in a crisis do you talk you're T? If so, what does your T usually say? Does it help?
My T and I did DBT for a couple months but I stopped going to group as I was struggling to accept the concepts that DBT proposed. Now when I'm in crisis though she's referring back to those concepts and skills. I know these things aren't helpful, but to be entirely honest I don't know if there is anything she could say or suggest I do to help me dig out of the hole I or myself in.
What do you find helpful?

Yes, I can talk to my T, but he does very much what you expect you T to do; he goes back to the skills we have always worked on because they do work for me if I remember to use them and apply them in all areas of my life. My skills aren't DBT skills, but they are still very behaviorally oriented. I can remember feeling at first that they weren't helpful and being frustrated that my T kept pushing those skills, but over time I realized they were probably the most useful tools I took out of therapy long-term. They took a great deal of time and constant application for them to become part of what I do pretty naturally now.

Your T is a DBT therapist, so it reasons that those skills are what she is going to go back to. Would you consider returning to those DBT skills and giving them more time to internalize? A couple of months doesn't sound like a very long time to really allow those skills to sink in and become more automatic and truly helpful.

[stopdog]

I don't find the therapist helpful - either of them. The second one encourages phone calls (give out her cell and home number to clients) but I tried calling a couple of times and it was not all that useful. She seems to think just talking to her is useful and she tried saying things - if she had been quiet it might have helped more. There are no skills or anything in the therapy I do.
Really, for me, just being left alone is the best thing I can think of.

[Cinnamon_Stick]

I have called my T during a major crisis. She asked me how she can keep me safe, set up a safety plan and just talked to me about my day and even tried changing the subject so I would be in a safer state of mind. I have found it helpful to stay connected to people.

[NowhereUSA]

Mine is a DBT T, so I get referred back to the skills. I'm not going to presume to know why you don't find them helpful although I am curious. I found that DBT didn't cure my depression but it did help keep me from making the situation worse.

[ChipperMonkey]

Maybe DBT isn't for you? For me personally, I can't stand DBT. Many of the concepts just don't help. Don't get me wrong, I know that DBT helps many people, and I am not discouraging you from doing DBT, but since you say you're struggling with the concepts, maybe another type of therapy like CBT would be better?

I've had a number of therapists and people tell me I needed DBT because I've been so symptomatic in the past. I tried DBT a number of times but I only ended up in a worse place. However, when I tried straight CBT, everything just clicked right away. (I'm in love with CBT and recommend it highly!) CBT worked a million times better for me than DBT. (But of course, we're all different.....and yes, my emotions were all over the place and of course, because of that, the automatic recommendation was DBT....but as I said before, CBT is what helps me the most.)

[shamon86]

No DBT never worked at least not now. I had about 6 months in the class. I had a lot of problems with radical acceptance and some of the other concepts as well. It's hard to try to think logically when you're so far down. Like I am right now. I can't continue to feel like this, it hurts too much. My T tells me to stay in the present and I'm trying.