Dialectical Behavior Therapy Workbook: The 4 DBT Skills to Overcome Anxiety by Learning How to Manage Your Emotions. A Practical Guide to Recovering from Borderline Personality Disorder

by David Lawson

Has separation anxiety, fear of abandonment, self-harm and emotional instability prevented you from experiencing what should have been the typical life of a ‘normal’ person? Have negative thoughts assaulted you on every side, taking control and proving stubbornly resistant to all attempts to drive them away? Have you had emotions that sometimes you can't even name?

Anger, fear, sadness and shame are notoriously difficult emotions to manage as nature has forged their purpose purely to protect us. Sometimes trauma can interfere with your ability to regulate your emotions, amplifying them and generating devastating effects for yourself and for others.

If you live with a Borderline Disorder, you will likely have been prey to intense and fluctuating emotions, struggling every day with troubling thoughts and behavior; finding difficulties being understood by others and being troubled in your relationships.

Borderline Personality Disorders are officially recognized as DSM 5 and still remain a stigma, fueled by ignorance and misinformation that causes unnecessary and undeserved shame and isolation for its victims.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, has rapidly become one of the most popular and most effective treatments for the range of mental health conditions that are rooted in out-of-control emotions.

DBT was created for the treatment of individuals struggling with suicidal thoughts, but has now matured into a treatment for a whole range of other conditions that involve dysfunctional emotional regulation. It is currently considered the ‘gold standard’ for Borderline Personality Disorders and has even been used in the treatment of substance abuse and eating disorders.

I RECOMMEND THAT YOU READ THIS BOOK IF, IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS, YOU HAVE FOUND YOURSELF OVERPOWERED BY:

Anxiety, depression and anger, often for reasons that others find difficult to understand or that they consider futile. Intense or uncontrollable emotional explosions. Instability in interpersonal relationships and self-esteem. Concerns about abandonment. Feeling desperately misunderstood. Feelings of helplessness and despair. Practices of self-harm and notions of suicide. Doubts about yourself and your sanity.

and many others..

DO THE FOLLOWING SYMPTOMS SOUND FAMILIAR FOR YOU?

YOU SHOULD ADDRESS THESE ISSUES BY:

Listening to those who understand this problem and have experienced the dynamics just listed. Informing yourself: read articles, watch videos and access people who have the expertise to alleviate the destructive damage that emotional storms can create.

This book will most likely not be ‘the complete cure’ for all your problems.

109 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 11, 2019

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

David Lawson, PhD is a writer and researcher whose main focus is on mental well-being. With his courses and his coaching activity he has helped many people solve problems with personality disorders, self-perception and depression. He is considered to be a promoter of the well-being of the individual with a holistic approach that, over the years, has allowed him to achieve extraordinarily positive results. He is both loved and criticized for his friendly and sometimes direct approach.

It is helpful to think that true success occurs when you act on a daily basis. Habits are essential for achieving goals and for living the life you want to live.

Unlike other personal development guides, its content focuses on action.

Reviews

[Jenny T · Rating 3 out of 5]

This isn't a workbook at all. It's actually a handbook or outline of the very basics of DBT. The content is similar to that found on a deck of DBT cards that I have, but doesn't really have many exercises, and doesn't have any places to write or questions to answer. I'll hang on to it because the outline is helpful, although the organization is confusing because some topics seem to fall under different umbrellas and are repeated. There are also several typos, and the content seemed like it wasn't very professional but written by someone young. I wish the title wasn't so misleading because there's nothing reflective about this book. It's more of an index of DBT skills.

[Erica Stratton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad

I think this book sort-of has a different intended audience. I did get a little bit out of it, but not much. Some of the examples of things to do were quite silly (in a good way). On the other hand, some of the advice struck me as just plain bad (ex. Show up at work in your uniform and ask people if they want to go home. Definitely not something that should be done without asking a manager)

[Dan Stern · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like others have said, this isn’t a workbook. It’s a book explaining concepts of DBT. I was looking forward to copying exercises from this and using them with clients but instead will just use the DBT skills training handout and worksheets book
2 people found this helpful

[Kristal Imperio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice summary

This book is definitely not a workbook, but a very nice summary of dialectical behavior therapy. It was good to get a general sense of what this therapy is all about, but it is in no way a self-help book or workbook.