#2: Introduction to Mindfulness and the Wise Mind

#2: Introduction to Mindfulness and the Wise Mind

Author: Bay Area DBT & Couples Counseling Center April 30, 2019 Duration: 33:15

Would you like to know more about DBT and where it all started? In today's episode, Marielle and Ed will be looking into the background and development of DBT. They will discuss dialectics and the concept of Wise Mind and give an introduction to mindfulness. Tune in to find out more.

Dialectics is about balancing two things that could be seen as opposite, yet also as true. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was created towards the end of the 1980s, by Marsha Linehan, who started out doing Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) with suicidal and self-harming clients. She later added the dialectical component to more effectively treat people experiencing intense emotional suffering.

Show Highlights:

  • Why Ed finds dialectics to be helpful for intense suffering.
  • Ed defines the term 'dialectics'.
  • Always balancing acceptance and change with dialectics.
  • With dialectics, two opposing things can be true at the same time.
  • Moving away from 'black-and-white' thinking.
  • DBT has been effective in treating people with different kinds of emotional dysregulation.
  • Wise mind is an ideal state, a work in progress, and an internal sense of doing the right thing, even if it's hard.
  • Wise mind is the combination of our Emotion Mind and our Reasonable mind.
  • What Emotion Mind looks like.
  • What Reasonable Mind looks like.
  • Wise Mind can lead us to that place of intuition or inspiration.
  • There are many ways to practice mindfulness.
  • Mindfulness helps us to access Wise Mind.
  • Ed gives a mindfulness breathing exercise to help you to access Wise Mind.
  • Mindfulness is the foundational skill of DBT.
  • The mindfulness that is practiced in DBT isn't meditation.
  • What is mindfulness?
  • Depression lives in the past.
  • Much of our distress comes from focusing on the past or the future and not on the present moment.
  • Mindfulness allows for choice.
  • Mindfulness is both external and internal.
  • Dealing with some of the problems with practicing mindfulness.

 

Resource:

Book by Marsha Linehan - DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets

 

Links:

You can find us online at https://bayareadbtcc.com/ 

Ask Us a Question!

We'd love to hear from you! Where are you getting stuck with your skills application? Ask us a question for the chance to have it answered on the podcast. Submit your question here. 

Please note that questions, and this podcast in general, are not a substitute for individual mental health treatment.


Hosted by the clinicians at the Bay Area DBT & Couples Counseling Center, The Skillful Podcast is a practical guide for anyone feeling stuck in their emotional patterns or relationships. Instead of abstract theory, each episode breaks down tangible skills from two powerful frameworks: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Radically-Open DBT (RO-DBT). You'll hear straightforward explanations of concepts like mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation, but also learn about the often-overlooked skills of openness, flexibility, and social connectedness that RO-DBT emphasizes. The focus is always on application-how to take these ideas off the therapist's couch and weave them into your daily interactions and internal world. Whether navigating personal stress, a challenging conversation, or the pursuit of a more fulfilling life, this podcast offers concrete tools to try in real time. It’s a resource for building resilience from the inside out, episode by episode. Tuning in feels less like a lecture and more like a thoughtful consultation, where complex psychological wisdom is translated into actionable steps for reducing suffering and fostering deeper connections with others and yourself.
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