DBT Coping Skills
DBT Skills Cheat Sheet: A Guide to Adaptive Coping
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) offers practical coping skills to help individuals manage emotions, improve relationships, and reduce distress. This guide breaks down DBT skills into four main categories: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. Each section is paired with relevant coping techniques to help you apply these skills in real-life situations.
This cheat sheet will walk you through each skill category, explain its purpose, and provide matching coping strategies you can use when you need them most.
How to Use This Cheat Sheet
Identify Your Current Need: Are you feeling overwhelmed, emotionally dysregulated, or struggling in a relationship?
Select a DBT Skill Category: Choose Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, or Interpersonal Effectiveness based on what fits your situation.
Apply the Matching Coping Skills: Use the suggested coping techniques to put the DBT skills into practice.
Mindfulness Skills
Mindfulness skills help you stay grounded in the present moment, without judgment. By becoming aware of your thoughts, emotions, and sensations, you can respond intentionally rather than react impulsively.
Key Skills:
Observe: Notice what is happening without trying to change it.
Describe: Put words to your experience (e.g., “I feel tension in my shoulders”).
Participate: Engage fully in the present moment, letting go of distractions.
Non-judgmental Stance: Notice your thoughts and feelings without labeling them as good or bad.
Matching Coping Skills:
5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique: Identify five things you see, four things you touch, three things you hear, two things you smell, and one thing you taste.
Breathwork (Box Breathing): Inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4.
Visualization: Imagine a calm, safe place to help you stay grounded.
Distress Tolerance Skills
Distress tolerance skills provide tools for managing intense emotions and urges without acting impulsively or engaging in harmful behaviors. These skills help you ride the wave of emotional distress until it passes.
Key Skills:
TIP (Temperature, Intense Exercise, Paced Breathing): Use physical sensations to soothe overwhelming emotions.
Self-Soothe: Engage your five senses (e.g., listen to calming music or light a scented candle).
Distraction: Shift your attention temporarily away from distress (e.g., watch a favorite show).
Radical Acceptance: Acknowledge the situation as it is, even if you don’t like it.
Matching Coping Skills:
Opposite Action: If you feel like isolating, take a small step toward social connection.
Movement or Exercise: Go for a walk or stretch to release emotional energy.
Procrastination as a Firefighter: Notice when you delay tasks to avoid emotions and apply mindfulness to break the cycle.
Emotion Regulation Skills
Emotion regulation skills help you identify, understand, and change emotional responses. They are particularly useful for maintaining emotional balance and preventing emotional overwhelm.
Key Skills:
Check the Facts: Identify if your emotional response matches the situation.
Opposite Action: Take action that counters an unhelpful emotion (e.g., smile when feeling down).
Build Positive Experiences: Incorporate enjoyable activities regularly to improve emotional resilience.
PLEASE Skills: Take care of physical health (sleep, nutrition, exercise) to support emotional regulation.
Matching Coping Skills:
Values Check-in (ACT): Reflect on whether your actions align with your core values (e.g., family, health, or integrity).
Self-Compassion Practice: Offer yourself kindness (e.g., place your hand on your chest and say, “It’s okay to feel this way”).
Journaling Dialogue with Parts (IFS): Write a conversation with an inner part to explore its emotional message.
Interpersonal Effectiveness Skills
Interpersonal effectiveness skills are about maintaining healthy relationships, setting boundaries, and balancing your needs with others’ needs. They help you communicate clearly, ask for what you need, and handle conflict gracefully.
Key Skills:
DEAR MAN: A framework for asking for what you want while maintaining relationships (Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, Mindful, Appear confident, Negotiate).
GIVE: Use kindness to maintain relationships (Gentle, Interested, Validate, Easy manner).
FAST: Maintain self-respect in interactions (Fair, Apologies, Stick to values, Truthful).
Boundaries: Know when to say yes or no and honor your personal limits.
Matching Coping Skills:
Parts Dialogue for Interpersonal Triggers (IFS): Identify which part of you feels triggered in relationships and explore what it needs.
Social Support: Share your challenges with a trusted friend, coach, or therapist.
Opposite Action: If you feel like avoiding conflict, try expressing your needs calmly instead.
Key Takeaway
This DBT Cheat Sheet offers quick access to effective coping tools you can use in everyday situations. Whether you're dealing with emotional distress, trying to improve relationships, or just aiming to stay grounded, these skills can help you respond intentionally and reduce emotional suffering.
With practice, DBT skills can become second nature, fostering greater self-awareness, emotional resilience, and well-being. Use this cheat sheet as a guide whenever you need support, and don’t forget—progress takes time, so be kind to yourself along the way.
This cheat sheet can be a helpful companion in both therapy and coaching settings, offering clients practical ways to integrate coping skills into their daily lives. Feel free to revisit and adjust your approach as you continue your personal growth journey.
