Seeing your child struggle with intense emotions can be extremely heartbreaking. You want to help, but it can feel frustrating when nothing you’ve tried seems to work. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an effective, evidence-based approach for children struggling with emotional regulation, relationship challenges, and managing stress. DBT teaches skills that help kids build emotional balance, strengthen resilience, and support their overall well-being. In this post, learn what DBT for kids is, how its core skills work, and ways you can support your child.
What Is DBT?
DBT was originally designed for adults with borderline personality disorder by psychologist Marsha Linehan, but has been adapted to treat children. At its core, DBT combines Cognitive Behavioral Techniques (CBT) with mindfulness practices to help children:
- Understand and regulate their emotions
- Improve interpersonal skills
- Reduce impulsive or self-destructive behaviors
- Build resilience and coping strategies
Four Core DBT Skills For Kids
DBT focuses on four core skills which include:
1. Mindfulness
How Mindfulness Helps Kids⎯Mindfulness skills teach kids how to pause and create space between their emotions and their actions. Instead of reacting impulsively, they learn to notice what’s happening inside them and respond calmly. Over time, this practice can ease anxiety and improve focus.
2. Emotion Regulation
How Emotion Regulation Helps Kids⎯A child who struggles with big emotions can learn to recognize when they are becoming angry or sad. They can then use the skills they’ve learned to do what’s best for them in the moment like taking a short break, doing an activity they enjoy, or problem-solving to prevent their emotions from escalating.
3. Distress Tolerance
How Distress Tolerance Helps Kids⎯Life is full of stressful situations that are out of our control. Distress tolerance skills teach children how to get through difficult moments without making things worse. Examples of this could be holding a comfort toy or watching their favorite movie until the intense emotion subsides.
4. Interpersonal Effectiveness
How Interpersonal Effectiveness Helps Kids⎯For a child who struggles with friendships, learning interpersonal skills are invaluable. Our therapists give kids tools for how to ask someone at school to play, express their feelings in a constructive way, and handle disagreements calmly. The goal is to help them get what they want and need from others while also maintaining relationships which helps build confidence and reduces social anxiety.
Signs Your Child Might Benefit From DBT
DBT is a great therapeutic tool for any child who needs extra support with emotional or behavioral challenges. However, it’s especially helpful for children who exhibit intense and difficult-to-manage emotions such as mood dysregulation, anxiety, or disruptive behaviors. Examples of these behaviors and emotions:
- Emotional Outbursts⎯Kids who experience intense tantrums or emotional outbursts that goes far beyond than what the situation warrants.
- Anxiety & Constant Worry⎯Kids who experience overwhelming anxiety, social anxiety, or frequent panic attacks, and need tools to help them manage these intense feelings.
- Difficulty With Relationships⎯Kids who struggle to make or keep friends, frequently get into arguments, or have trouble with social cues need the therapeutic tools that DBT offers to help them navigate relationships.
- Impulsive Behaviors⎯Examples of impulsive behaviors can include, interrupting others frequently, acting without thinking, taking toys, food, or objects without asking, hitting, kicking, or throwing things when upset. DBT is a great intervention to help kids before these behaviors damage relationships permanently or cause them to become isolated.
- Depression⎯Kids who show signs of persistent sadness, irritability, or a loss of interest in activities.
- Self-Harming Thoughts Or Behaviors⎯DBT is highly effective for kids who engage in self-harm or have suicidal thoughts. DBT skills help kids identify triggers, process their feelings, and use tools learned in therapy to lower the intense emotions that start to overcome them and redirect their mind to something positive.
Child DBT Therapists In Los Angeles & Virtually
Your active involvement is a very important part of how effective DBT therapy will be for your child. Parental involvement is so important because it helps your child feel supported and reinforces the skills they’re learning in therapy. When parents take an active role in DBT, they’re able to model healthy coping strategies to create consistency between what’s taught in therapy and what happens at home so your child can put these skills into action in their daily life.
If you’d like to learn more about how our DBT sessions are structured, or to schedule an appointment for your child, fill out our form online or call us at (310) 853-3970.
