Understanding the Difference Between DBT & CBT: How Your Mental Health Professional Uses Talk Therapy to Help You Heal.

Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) are longstanding, effective treatment methods for addressing extreme emotions, negative thinking patterns, mental health issues, behavioral issues, and substance use disorders.

These forms of talk therapy play an integral role in combating mental illnesses and self-destructive behaviors. Both forms of therapeutic intervention fall into the psychotherapy category.

CBT and DBT are generally used to treat mental health issues as psychotherapies.

Sessions are led by a therapist who works throughout the therapeutic method’s use aiming to help individuals face challenges they encounter through talks in a safe space. The discussions, facilitated by a mental health professional, are confidential. And help stimulate growth and increase self-awareness while teaching the individual to build new skills capable of assisting them to cope with their ever-changing environment.

Yet, even though CBT and DBT work to help individuals manage the same overwhelming feelings while facilitating positive change, there are some essential differences between the methods.

What is Cognitive Behavioral – CBT Therapy

The Grounds for CBT Use in Treating Addiction or a Mental Health Condition

Not all therapeutic methods work to combat patients’ harmful behaviors and emotionally problematic patterns.

Some therapeutic approaches work specifically to rebalance bodies, build better interpersonal relationships, improve distress tolerance, negate different eating disorders, etc. But for individuals who struggle with drug or alcohol use disorders, these particular types of group or individual therapy sessions do not always touch on all of the material the client needs. A person who struggles with a substance use disorder (SUD) needs help to process past trauma. They need to relearn how to build supportive relationships. See how their behaviors intertwine with their abuse and rewire themselves to avoid self-destructive thoughts. And redirect intense emotions while looking to improve their general well too.

In rehab, several therapies can be used to reach these desired results. Still, none are used so much as cognitive behavioral therapy.

CBT Therapy by Definition

Cognitive-behavioral therapy can be classically defined as a form of psychological treatment demonstrated to be effective for a range of problems. Some of the best uses of CBT include treatment for depression, generalized anxiety disorder, alcohol use problems, marital problems, severe mental illness, post-traumatic stress disorder, and more.

Initially formulated to help prevent relapse in alcohol misuse clients, Medical professionals quickly picked up on CBT’s effectiveness. In conclusion, CBT talk therapy rapidly became a prevalent tool in treating SUDs as well as chronic suicidal ideation, anxiety disorders, and even obsessive-compulsive disorder.

CBT focuses primarily on the importance of learning to rationalize and reason to combat negative behaviors. The leading therapist treats emotional response to outside stimuli through conversation. Clients work to build self cognizance and critical thinking skills as they verbally process their emotional reaction to an event or situation.

CBT Concepts of Practice In Individual Therapy

Much of CBT revolves around anticipating problems a person will likely run into in their daily lives.

In recognizing these triggers, a therapist can help a client practice skills that will prepare them to better cope with their behavioral habits, redirecting negative thoughts to produce a positive, long-lasting behavior change.

Dialectical Behavior – DBT Therapy as a Treatment Option

Dialectical behavior (DBT) therapy is an off-branch CBT alternative.

It was initially developed for treating depression. DBT now helps treat borderline personality disorder, physical self-harm, and persistent suicidal thoughts. DBT skills have proven helpful in treating various mental health issues, eating disorders, SUDs, and self-harm behaviors.

Where CBT teaches the importance of rationale and reasoning in adherence to the Socratic Method to help clients cultivate a reliable critical thinking method to improve their well-being. DBT focuses on utilizing mindfulness skills, teaching patients how to live with the world around them and find a peaceful way to live in enlightenment, loving others while living in the moment.

DBT Treatment Techniques

Generally, DBT treatment options and techniques include:

  • Inclusive conversational therapy over a telephone consultation
  • Therapy sessions provided in a group setting
  • Individual counseling

On the other hand, cognitive behavioral therapy sessions are practiced in much more structured use parameters.

Who Primarily Uses CBT and DBT?

Anyone who wrestles with a SUD, mental illness, addiction, emotional imbalance, or behavioral disorder can use CBT or DBT techniques for treatment.

Of course, there are specific disorders and illnesses that each therapeutic method works best for treating.

CBT’s Primary Use Populations

CBT, for instance, is primarily used to help treat general anxiety disorders but can also help treat:

  • Alcohol addiction
  • Drug addiction
  • PTSD
  • OCD
  • Personality disorder
  • Behavioral disorders
  • Anger issues
  • Bipolar disorder
  • Phobias
  • Panic disorders and attacks

CBT is also well known for treating relationship problems in marriages with group sessions but primarily for individual counseling. There have even been studies that show CBT helps teach stress management and how to cope with grief or loss.

DBT’s Primary Use Populations

DBT, on the other hand, as a closely related alternative to CBT psychotherapy, is primarily used by individuals seeking help with:

  • Developing better distress tolerance
  • Overcoming alcohol addiction
  • Beating drug addiction
  • Wanting to cultivate better mindfulness practices
  • Those looking to better their interpersonal effectiveness
  • Individuals who need help with emotional regulation
  • Those who struggle with harming themselves physically
  • Those who struggle with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
  • People who are wrestling with personality disorders
  • Individuals struggling with bipolar disorders
  • Those who struggle with maintaining healthy eating patterns

Those who enroll in DBT programs learn to use acceptance to make change possible. They learn to recognize the patterns in their behavior. And collaborate with their therapist to cultivate skills that will help them cope with daily life in healthier, more self-alert ways.

Can CBT and DBT Talk Therapies Help Treat Borderline Personality Disorder?

Yes. DBT and CBT can help treat individuals wrestling with BPD.

But, it has been found that the dialectical behavior program approach is more effective and beneficiary for treating bipolar disorders.

Benefits of Engaging in DBT and CBT Psychotherapies

No one is safe from the effects of mental health issues or substance use disorders, regardless of their background, whether rich or poor, young or old.

When it comes to mental illnesses and diseases, everyone is at risk.

But luckily, medical professionals across the country have not been idle. And over the years, they’ve learned many ways in which cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) can prove beneficial for individual and group use.

Benefits of DBT

Dialectical behavior therapy has many uses, but it also proves very beneficial. Some benefits of DBT include:

  • Through validation, clients are less likely to become distressed in session
  • Clients learn new ways to help them accept their circumstances in life, allowing them better tolerate themselves and their emotions
  • They learn to cultivate coping skills that help them make positive changes to their behaviors and interpersonal interactions
  • They learn how to analyze and deconstruct their emotions and thoughts in real-time, allowing them to combat destructive behaviors with healthier responses
  • Through conversational practice with their therapist, they learn to become more effective communicators

And through group activities, the clients can learn how to build better supportive relationships while practicing their new coping and cognitive skills.

Benefits of CBT

Cognitive-behavioral therapy also has many benefits and uses, its most beneficial qualities include:

  • Individuals learn that although they cannot control every aspect of the world around them, they do have a say in the way they interpret and react to the environment around them
  • With a therapist’s help, the client learns to construct new, healthier thinking patterns, allowing them to become more aware of themselves and combat unrealistic thoughts or moods
  • Sessions are generally based on individual counseling parameters but can be adapted to fit groups as well
  • Sessions duration are short and easily digestible
  • Individuals can participate in sessions face-to-face or online, allowing them flexibility in healing
  • The therapeutic method is just as effective as other healing interventions, but much more affordable, making it accessible to anyone who needs help

CBT programs are also highly customizable, allowing a wide variety of mental health issues to find an avenue for adequate recovery. At the same time, clients work on developing long-lasting coping mechanisms.

Principles of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and DBT

Cognitive-behavioral therapy is all about recognizing the behavior patterns within an individual and changing them for healthier coping styles.

Teaching clients to be mindful and self-aware ultimately helps them relax, stay calm, and move on from potentially harmful thinking processes. In CBT sessions, the therapist understands that an individual’s interpretations of an event affect their emotions. Their feelings then affect their thoughts, which then lead to adverse reactions. With this understanding in mind, the cognitive therapist admits that you cannot treat behavioral problems without addressing an individual’s thinking methods and processing the world around them.

The best way to treat someone thoughtfully and emotionally to help them remodel their behavior is through holistic approaches. CBT uses holistic methods to guide its principles of practice. The principles of cognitive-behavioral therapy include:

  • Conducting services in small (generally) 20 min sessions
  • Builds off a trusting, supportive client-therapist relationship
  • Has structured sessions
  • Initially emphasizes the present, then moves to future
  • Teaches clients how to identify in themselves dysfunctional thoughts, behaviors
  • Stresses active participation and collaboration
  • Grows as the patient’s needs evolve and change
  • Uses a multitude of techniques to treat various behavioral, emotional, thought discrepancies

CBT is made to be a goal-orientated therapeutic formulation. Problem-focused CBT works diligently to help clients become their own best support network. In sessions, they begin building better supporting skills and relationships and helping them continue to manage their recovery long after the end of the session.

DBT programs operate on many similar principles. But often add in a few more flexible interventions, focusing on helping clients learn to accept the world around them to move forward with healing. DBT sessions generally last longer than CBT programs, taking about an hour of a client’s and therapist’s time. In DBT, the client learns to recognize what causes them stress and then builds mindful tools to help them cope with their anxieties in healthier ways.

Similarities Between CBT and DBT as Mental Health Treatment Options

Even though dialectical behavior therapy is a behavioral treatment approach like CBT, it is a comprehensive recovery method that incorporates elements of CBT but is not the same.

DBT helps to promote abstinence, reduce the chance and length of relapse, can be used in both inpatient and outpatient settings, and allows clients to move through their daily lives with a “clear mind.” The treatment is also extremely helpful in treating co-occurring disorders. Like CBT, DBT is compromised on a set of treatment principles with a wide variety of practices under its wings. Some of the basic principles of DBT include:

  • Working clients through three stages of treatment therapy
  • Teaching clients life skills and new coping mechanisms
  • And challenging life-threatening thoughts and behaviors that developed throughout the individual’s life

Similar to CBT sessions, only a licensed therapist can lead a DBT session. And also, like in CBT, a therapist must first get to know their client. They understand their patterns and what they struggle with most in behavior regulation to help them build new thinking processes and coping patterns to support long-term healing.

Key Differences of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs. Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Yet, even though DBT and CBT prove very similar in general nature and practice, they also have a lot of differences.

Not every form of treatment is suitable for everyone, which is why different forms of therapies exist. CBT and DBT are similar forms of treatment developed to support various people.

So what are the differences between cognitive-behavioral and dialectical behavior therapy? Here are a few differences between CBT and DBT that you should know:

  • Emphasis on Onsetting Problems and Healing Techniques in Treatment – DBT is a practiced art that helps with specific trauma and personality disorders. Meanwhile, CBT is best at helping clients work through mood disorders and anxiety. Not all therapeutic methods will help treat all kinds of behavior patterns. Some processes may make thought patterns worse. So DBT and CBT exist to help treat different thought patterns in separate people.
  • Time and Duration of Sessions to Encourage Recovery – CBT focuses on providing clients with more digestible behavioral treatment sessions. Meanwhile, DBT is formulated to be conducted in longer sessions to aid flexibility in conversation.
  • The Setting in Which the Session is Conducted – DBT and CBT approaches recognize that behaviors influence an individual’s thought patterns and reactions. Likewise, both therapeutic approaches work to support individuals in group and individual counseling sessions. Even so, CBT sessions generally stick to one-on-one, in-person therapeutic schedules, while DBT is more flexible.

Therapists can use many avenues to help you benefit from CBT or DBT treatment. Not every avenue will work for you, but many good options exist to support your healing process. CBT and DBT are both excellent treatment approaches.

So now, it is just time for you and your therapist to determine which therapeutic method will work best for you. Cognitive-behavioral and dialectical therapy help thousands of people heal every year in substance abuse treatment and outside of it. If it can help others, it can help you too.

St. John’s Recovery Place Incorporates CBT and DBT Skills in Drug and Alcohol Rehab

Helping People Overcome Mental Health Challenges in Substance Abuse Treatment

At St. John’s Recovery Place, holistic healing is our primary focus. In addition, we see many mental health and behavioral issues arise and problematic thought patterns. But with DBT and CBT therapeutic sessions in our addiction fighting arsenal, we help individuals recover in mind, body, and spirit every day.

If you or a loved one wrestles with addiction, we want to be here to help you too.

Cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapies may be just the right start for you to begin treatment.

Want to learn more about DBT and CBT? Feel free to call us at St. John’s Recovery Place (SJRP) today to learn more about our therapeutic services, programs, and how we can help you, your loved ones, and your family members. Our number is 1-833-397-3422; call us today. You will not be sorry to take this first step to heal.