Child Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT-C)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Children, often referred to as DBT-C, is a specialized therapeutic approach designed to provide support and coping strategies for children who are struggling with intense emotions and behavioral challenges. While DBT-C shares fundamental principles with the adult version of DBT, it is tailored to meet the unique needs of children and adolescents, helping them navigate their emotional world and develop essential life skills.
What is DBT-C and How Can It Help?
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), originally developed for adults, has been adapted to meet the unique needs of children. This adaptation, known as DBT-C, is specifically designed to address the emotional and behavioral challenges faced by children and their families.
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Children who can benefit from DBT-C are often described as “supersensers,” a term used to describe individuals who experience heightened sensitivity to stimuli, emotions, and their environment. Supersensers often struggle to regulate their emotions and cope with the challenges of daily life. These children may experience depression, anxiety, and stress, which can negatively impact their overall well-being, academic performance, and social interactions.
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DBT-C takes a developmentally sensitive approach to addressing the emotional and behavioral challenges faced by supersensers; it incorporates the following key components of Dialectical Behavior Therapy, tailored to the unique needs and abilities of children and adolescents:
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Mindfulness: DBT-C introduces mindfulness practices in an age-appropriate manner. Children are taught to observe their thoughts, emotions, and sensations without judgment. Mindfulness helps supersensers become more aware of their reactions, and enhances their ability to stay present.
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Emotion Regulation: This component focuses on helping supersensers understand and manage their intense emotions. Children learn to identify emotional triggers, express their feelings in healthy ways, and develop strategies for self-soothing and emotional balance.
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Distress Tolerance: DBT-C equips children with practical skills to tolerate and cope with distressing situations. This is especially beneficial for supersensers, who may become easily overwhelmed by emotional or sensory stimuli.
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Interpersonal Effectiveness: Building positive relationships and effective communication skills are crucial for children's development. DBT-C teaches children how to express their needs, set boundaries, and navigate social interactions more confidently.
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Dialectical Thinking: Like its adult counterpart, DBT-C encourages children to embrace dialectical thinking, which involves finding a balance between opposing ideas or emotions. This skill helps supersensers to accept their sensitivity, while also working towards personal growth and change.
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Overall Well-Being: DBT-C empowers supersensers to embrace their unique sensitivity as a strength, and to develop a sense of self-acceptance and self-worth.
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DBT-C recognizes that effective therapy for children who are struggling with emotional and behavioral regulation needs to extend beyond individual sessions with the child, and emphasizes the critical role parents play in their child's emotional well-being. For this reason, an essential component of DBT-C is training and support for parents. Parental involvement in DBT-C serves several essential purposes:
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Extension of therapy: Parents are a child's primary role models and the people who spend the most time with them. By involving parents in therapy, the child's home environment becomes an extension of the therapeutic environment. DBT-C helps parents create a change-ready environment that aligns with the therapeutic goals and strategies being taught by their therapist.
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Skill Reinforcement: Parents are taught the same skills as their child so that they can help reinforce the coping skills and strategies learned in DBT-C sessions and provide ongoing support and encouragement.
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Communication: Effective communication within the family is vital for a child's progress. DBT-C helps parents learn how to communicate with their child in ways that foster understanding, validation, and emotional regulation.
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Emotional Regulation: Parenting a “supersenser” can be stressful. By learning how to regulate their own emotions, parents are able to respond compassionately and more effectively to their child's emotional needs.
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Long-Term Success: Children feel more supported and validated when their parents are actively involved in their therapy. Parental involvement also increases the likelihood of sustained progress and continued skills use after therapy concludes.
The Important Role of Parents in DBT-C
What's Involved In DBT-C Treatment?
DBT-C is an intensive treatment for the whole family. Just like all of the treatments offered at CWML, an individualized treatment plan is developed for every family. Therapists work closely with the child and their parents to identify their unique needs and develop a plan that addresses their specific concerns. The following components are typically included in a DBT-C treatment plan:
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Weekly Child Sessions: Children are seen either alone or with a parent to learn the DBT skills (mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness), process their feelings and experiences, and receive support and guidance on how to incorporate the skills into their daily life.
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Weekly Parent Sessions: Parents attend separate therapy sessions with a trained DBT-C therapist. These sessions provide a safe space for parents to discuss their challenges, share their experiences, and receive guidance on how to apply DBT principles within the family context.
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Family Skills Training: Parents are taught the same DBT skills that their child is learning in therapy. This allows parents to better understand and relate to their child's experiences and needs. Sometimes this occurs in a separate family session, or it can be incorporated into the weekly child sessions and weekly parent sessions.
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Skills Reinforcement at Home: Parents are encouraged to practice and model the DBT skills with their child at home. This reinforcement helps the child generalize the skills learned in therapy to real-life situations. Homework assignments are often designed to help parents and children practice and reinforce their skills collaboratively.
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Between-Session Coaching: DBT-C therapists are available to both children and parents between sessions to assist with problem-solving and to address specific challenges that may arise at home. In some cases, the additional support of in-home therapeutic coaching can be helpful. Our masters-level therapeutic coaches can model and reinforce the skills learned in DBT-C and help families create a change-ready home environment.
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The talented DBT-C therapists at CWML partner with parents and children to help them gain the skills they need to navigate their heightened emotional sensitivity and to develop the resilience and confidence needed to thrive in a world that can sometimes feel overwhelming. By including specific training and support for parents as an integral part of the treatment process, parents are equipped with the skills and knowledge they need to support their child's emotional and behavioral regulation and coping, and set the stage for long-term emotional well-being.
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At CWML, all of our licensed therapists are intensively trained in DBT and we’re committed to providing a safe and supportive environment where you can learn and practice these life-changing skills. We understand that every individual's journey is unique, and we tailor our DBT therapy to your specific needs and goals. Our goal is to empower you to lead a life that is balanced, fulfilling, and meaningful, an approach to life we call Wise Mind Living.