If you've been exploring treatment options for emotion dysregulation, intense emotions, self-destructive behaviors, chronic anxiety, trauma, or borderline personality disorder (BPD), you've probably encountered Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). Because DBT has become widely known, many therapists now describe themselves as "using DBT." However, teaching some DBT skills is very different from providing comprehensive DBT as it was originally developed, and as decades of research demonstrate...

Every behavior serves a purpose or function. As human beings with free choice, we act purposefully and to fill a need whether or not we are fully aware of it. Understanding the function of a behavior will help us understand the reason behind the action and how we can handle unhelpful behaviors in ourselves and those around us. Most functions of behavior fall into four categories, with the acronym EATS: Function #1 - E scape Sometimes things feel so overwhelming that we just want to avoid...