Last month saw the retirement of Dr Marsha Linehan, the treatment developer of DBT, from an illustrious career spanning several decades.

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.

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