Anyone done DBT?

[happyone]

Hi,

I have recently started a therapy, DBT, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy. It is actually originally aimed at people with borderline personality disorder but is being rolled out to people with other problems such as an eating disorder, recurrent depression, bipolar mood disorder.
I have bipolar and associated anxiety issues.I say associated but to be honest I am not actually that sure they are 100% connected. I have had anxiety problems all my life but not had BP all that time.
Anyway, I am only a short way into, 3 months of 12-18 months but I can see the potential to help with anxiety. A large chunk is about mindfulness andI have always thought I couldn't manage this but it is about practising it for whatever you can manage. 20 secs, a minute, whatever. Any respite is better than no respite sort of thing.
There is a lot more to it than this but the potential for helping me not bow to the pressure of panic is promising.
Just wonderedif anyone else had done/heard of it?

Happyone
x

[Stormsky]

hi, no not heard of it... hope it helps though.

[Jimbo]

Hi Happyone, remember me?:hugs:

Sorry if this is an old thread I revived. I guesss it it kinda relevant tho.

This is one of those strange coincidences that always seem to happen to me. I come back on the forum after years and find something that seems to directly relate to me and it's your post too! Are you still about on NMP?

I went through a DBT program and I learned a lot from it. Can't remember if I ever posted about it here when i did it. Core Mindfulness is the main concept in it. It's modified CBT with a group and individual counselling sessions.

Did you go through it? Did you get any benefit from it? It's more relevant to me as a BPD sufferer, didn't know they were offering it to BP patients tho? I sometimes wonder if they will ever classify BPD on the BP spectrum.

My local MHT is in chaos cause of the government cuts, lost the bloke who was my DBT counsellor, moved him to another building.:weep: Think they offer a DBT 'graduation' group here, cant remember the exact name of it, but its like a follow up to DBT but things are all very unclear for me at the moment, its something I've heard mentioned and I think they are looking in to it.


Jim:hugs:

[speckles69uk]

Hi all, like Jimbo, I realise this is an older thread but thought I would mention that my Psychiatrist discussed with me today about possibly trying DBT. I've had normal counselling and CBT in the past, not suffering as much from the panic attacks but do have other issues. It has been mentioned to me that I may have BP or BPD, but still an ongoing investigation, but I have a feeling it's more likely to be BPD. Have you heard anymore abouth the DBT Jimbo? Happyone, how did you get on with the DBT?

Kindest regards

Rebecca

[happyone]

Hi,

I was just visiting and looking through old threads and came across this one:)

I am almost finshed the group part of my DBT....end of January....and I am beginning to panic. Then I will see 1-1 for a while longer but when her support stops I am bleeding terrified!

It has been helpful in that it has helped me learn a lot about myself and my anxiety related problems are much less. Things like I can mostly shop now without problems, I can phone people, answer the phone and cope with workmen in the house:)

Anxiety still plays a major part in other areas of my life. I am nowhere near working which scares me as I thought by the end of this I would be able to. However, I volunteer for two hours a week at my local mental health resource centre. Maybe next yearI will move onto somewhere less supported....which would be good:)

Happyone
xx

[speckles69uk]

Hi Happyone,

I'm glad you've found the DBT helpful. I'm currently on a waiting list for some DBT, I've no idea how long I've got left to wait though, due to some communication cock up between my CMHT and the psychological therapies department. How long did you have to wait before starting? I don't want to ask you anything personal, but how have you found the group sessions, how were they structured, etc. How long do you have your one to one for? Did you have some 1 to 1 whilst doing group work? Sorry for all the questions, my psychiatrist is useless in being able to tell me how it all works, so I'm interested in asking somebody who has gone through the whole process.

Well done you for doing some voluntary work, that's great. You will know when you're ready for moving onto more hours. There's no set time to achieve things, everyone works at a different pace.

Take care

Rebecca

[happyone]

Hi there,

I don't mind the questions:)

I am not sure how long I had to wait as I think my last CPN put me on the waiting list against my wishes! She asked me if I wanted to do it and I refused outright. She then got me to fill in some forms and said I wasn't committing myself. I don't know how much longer it was after that that I got an appointment with my 1-1.
I didn't want to do it as it meant changing CPN's. I was very fond of my old CPN but my 1-1 is also a CPN.


I have really enjoyed the group sessions. Enjoyed is maybe a strange word but I have kind of! It started off with 8 of us and two therapists. Two soon dropped out and as it was a closed group, no new people started. This isn't how they normally do it. Normally if someone drops out then a new person will start at the beginning of the new unit.
In time the 6 dropped down to 5, 4 and now 3, which was quite sad:weep:
however, it does allow for the three of us to get more intensive therapy.

The way it works...or did for me is that I met with my 1-1 for a couple of months to just talk about stuff and build up trust I suppose and to go over the diaries. On the daily diaries you record your mood level, misery, desire to do self defeating or self harming behaviours. I record 3 things. You record how suicidal you have felt...if you have these feelings and you record how many times you have actually self defeated/harmed.
Then there is a section for you to write a daily goal and what skills you have used. The skills are all on the other side of the paper.
Then one day a week I go to group for 2 1/2 hours. It sounds long but it passes really quickly. We spend the first half all talking about our weeks, any major things that have happened, or are troubling us. We talk about what skills we have used and what could we have used. Then in the second half we talk about the next lot of skills that we are going to move onto. We are often given homework over and above our daily diaries for us to practise the skills we are learning.

Then one day a week for an hour I meet with my 1-1. I talk to her about things I feel unable to talk about in group, we look at my diaries and she helps me with how I could go about things. She is really helpful and for me is very empowering. She also helps me with my life really, the bigger picture. Not everyone gets a CPN as their 1-1, some get a therapist, some a counsellor I think. Some 1-1's are better than others. I am fortunate in that the person I have is very well trained in it and she invests a lot of energy into it.

My group is about to end in January but I will have my 1-1 for a while longer. 3-6 months. She will then discharge me....which I find terrifying!

Anything else you want to know, please ask. I am not in here often but I will make a point of coming in for the next few days:)

Happyone
xx

[speckles69uk]

Hi happyone,

Thank you for your detailed response, I really appreciate it. That's a bit naughty your old CPN putting you on the waiting list without your consent.

I am looking forward to starting it, because it's giving me some hope that I can be 'fixed', lol.

That is sad that people dropped out, but I can imagine it being quite difficult, and some people just aren't ready. It's not as if they can force you to do therpay, you have to want to. Like you said though, it allows for the remaining group members to have more intense therapy, so that's got to be a bit of a bonus.

It sounds like it's nicely structured. If you don't mind me asking, where did you have your group and therapy sessions located - a hospital, health centre, other location? I hope I'm as lucky as you and get somebody that is good at their job and cares what they're doing. I can't imagine her discharging you until she thinks your ready to cope on your own. Plus, you'll still have access to support if you need it, won't you?

Can I ask, did you get your referral for DBT from your CPN who was part of a CMHT? If so, when you were referred, did they completely discharge you from the CMHT? I'm just wondering, when I start my DBT, whether I will be discharged from the CMHT and will I lose my psychiatrist and access to the crisis team. If so, I'm not looking forward to it, I'm just starting to like this one. I've seen 5 different shrinks, and they pass me round like a packet of crisps, it's so ****ing annoying.

Thanks again for providing me with details of your experience with DBT.

Take care

Rebecca

[happyone]

Hi,

the therapy is tough.....I won't kid you. It makes you really look at yourself and how you do things. Some people are just not ready for that amount of self seeking. You do all of the units twice and that sounds a bit much but really, you just don't understand it all the first time round.Then the second time, you get more of an idea of how they all relate to each other.

Our sessions are in a MH hospital in the city next to my county. It isn't in the main frame of the hospital though, it is a nice little annexe that doesn't feel threatening at all. It is like a big old house.

I hope I will have access to support if I need it but this is the drawback for me.....my CPN would really like to see me discharged from the CMHT altogether but I am going to create at this. I really like her and trust her but I don't agree that discharge from the CMHT would be best for me.

The CPN who referred me was part of the same team as the CPN who does my therapy and of my psychiatrist. I have seen my psychiatrist all the time through this and as I said above, I am not ready for him to discharge me. I have also had access to my crises team but have only used them twice I don't know how it will be in your team as different teams have different rules. I would imagine that they won't want to discharge you until it is finished though.

Having so many shrinks must be awful! I have had the same one for 6 years and it makes such a difference having the consistency.

happyone
xx