One of, if not the most common, questions asked at the beginning of therapy is, “How long is this going to take?” DBT in particular, can seem like a big commitment. Honestly, it is. As frustrating as it might feel, any therapy intervention takes time. DBT is not a quick fix. However, it’s important to remember that while all of your life’s problems might not disappear after a week of therapy, progress can be made even from the beginning. Sometimes, you have to start small to achieve a big task, and addressing life’s difficulties is undoubtedly a big task. It’s completely normal to hope for big positive changes right away, but lasting change takes time.
The Short Answer: It depends…
The Long Answer:
First, it’s important to recognize the difference between 2 questions: 1. How long does our DBT program take and 2. How long does it take to work for you?
The answer to the question, “How long is the DBT program?” is that the first stage of our DBT program for adults is structured to run for 18 months of weekly individual therapy and skills group sessions. For adolescents, our program involves just over a year of weekly individual therapy, skills group training, and monthly family therapy. Here at The DBT Center of Utah, we offer a comprehensive DBT program. That means our program includes all four core components of DBT as originally developed:
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Individual therapy
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Skills training group
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Phone coaching
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Therapist consultation Team
To address the question, “How long before DBT works?”, well, it depends. Here’s what we do know:
DBT isn’t just about learning skills, it’s about practicing them over time, in real life, especially when things feel hard. Emotional and behavioral patterns develop over the years, often in response to painful or invalidating environments. Those patterns that took you years to create take more than a few weeks to change.
That said, many clients start to notice changes within the first few months: more awareness, better coping with crises, less self destructive behavior, and less emotional reactivity in relationships. The complete skills acquisition process takes longer, and progress continually happens along the way. It’s also important to note that progress doesn’t stop once you’ve learned all the DBT skills and graduated from skills training groups. It can continue to be made in individual therapy, even after you’ve finished the first stage of skills acquisition. Your progress will vary compared to other DBT participants because your goals and your efforts to achieve your goals are different from their goals. What you might experience as “having worked” might not be the same for someone else.
What Does This Mean for You?
People often seek therapy because they don’t know how to address problems they’re facing or even where to start. If you’re feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of where to start, our comprehensive DBT program and therapists are here to meet you exactly where you are and help you build mastery towards a life worth living – no matter what the time frame looks like. If you’d like more information about how our DBT program is structured or if it would be a good fit for you, don’t hesitate to reach out today. Our team is ready, willing and here to support you.