In this blog, we would like to say goodbye to Carolyn Fitzgibbon. Carolyn has been one of the 5 directors of DBTBrisbane since it commenced in 2012. Carolyn has worked as an Individual Therapist and Skills Trainer at DBTBrisbane. In November 2018, Carolyn left DBTBrisbane to work on her other interests of NDIS mental health work, Sensory Processing and Sensory Modulation. She can be contacted through her website: http://www.carolynfitzgibbon.com/ We wish Carolyn all the best with her future work.

I was sitting in a coffee shop with little Miss 4 the other day and she gave me a wonderful example of effective communication

Sometimes in life things can get really hectic! Perhaps work takes over, or family commitments overwhelm you, or perhaps you simply get caught up in the day-to-day tasks of living. Very recently I was reminded of the importance of accumulating positive emotions, even in the short-term, and the amazingly good impacts this can have on your mental health.

The first time I heard of the half-smile skill I was a little dubious. That seemed to be the reaction of people when I first taught them the skill too. I practised it and continued to be dubious, until one day a colleague told me that she used the half smile when she was in difficult meetings at work. So I tried it in difficult meetings and loved using it.

Rebecca Medway and I have co-facilitated Skills Groups together on and off since 2008. When our first DBTBrisbane group started running some years ago, some banter between Rebecca and I began to emerge about what is the best DBT skill. Before I go on, the thing you need to know about DBT is that it is full of acronyms that make next to no sense until you’re learning the skills.

In the last while adult colouring in has exploded in a big way. Books of colouring in now regularly top the adult best seller lists and I’ve even seen pots of pencils with photocopied sheets of patterns in GP waiting rooms sitting with the magazines.

Many of these colouring books tout themselves with words like mindfulness, therapeutic and stress releasing…..so i got to thinking is this a way we can encourage mindfulness practice?

Many clients and family members want to know how DBT differs from CBT.

Cognitive-behavioural therapy (or CBT) has been the mainstay of modern therapy for several decades. CBT is the front-line treatment in tackling depression, anxiety and substance use (and is usually very effective). However, clients who have more complex difficulties (such as self-harm or suicidality) or who have a number of different issues (such as problems with substance use combined with depression or anxiety as well as family or relationship difficulties) will tend to benefit more from DBT.

The new DBT program for young people and their families

Families and partners of clients often want to know what they can do to best support their loved one, particularly if that person is immersed in an intensive therapy like DBT. One of the most useful and under-rated skills that families can learn to master is the skill of validation. Validation means acknowledging that a person’s response makes sense in some way; it’s finding the kernel of truth in another’s perspective. Validation does not necessarily mean agreeing with or liking a particular behaviour, emotion, thought, belief or opinion (in this way it links nicely to the skill of radical acceptance). What validation does do is demonstrate that you’re listening, that you care enough about the other person to be willing ...