The DBT Strategies Assessment
DBT Theories lay the foundations. DBT Skills are the tools that build lasting change. DBT Strategies are what drives motivation and helps therapists design effective individual sessions. Let's see how familiar you are with the strategies used in the DBT office.
1. Michael spends the first session telling you everything that's wrong with his spouse, employees, childhood, and the traffic on the way to your office. He finishes by saying, "Anyway...I don't think I need to change anything." What is the therapist's BEST first priority?
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Begin teaching interpersonal effectiveness skills
Explore childhood trauma
Orient to DBT and increase commitment to treatment.
Help the client identify secondary targets
2. Angela says,"I have absolutely no idea how I ended up throwing my phone across the room." Knowing that phones rarely launch themselves, her DBT therapist begins a Behavior Chain Analysis. Where does the therapist begin?
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Identify the problem behavior
List vulnerability factors
Acknowledge consequences
Discover prompting events (thoughts, feelings, environmental factors, etc)
3. Jan vacillates between begging Michael to do everything for her to telling him she does not need him for anything at all. Help Michael identify the secondary target at work before he gets emotional whiplash.
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Constant Drama vs Creepily Calm
Active Passivity vs Apparent Competence
Emotion Vulnerability vs Self-Invalidation
Unrelenting Crisis vs Inhibited Grieving
4. Pam wants to quit her job after being harassed by her boss. In session, she says,"I know my reaction doesn't make sense." Her therapist responds telling her anyone in her position would feel the same way. Which level of validation is this?
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Level 5
Level 3
Level 6
Level 4
5. Creed says,"Honestly? Using skills sounds like work. Weed is easier." Which commitment strategy would a DBT therapist most likely use?
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Discussing pros and cons of change vs. staying the same
Ignoring ambivalence
Listing all treatment goals and making a wish list of changes
Validating how hard it is to use skills
6. Phyllis has been in DBT skills classes for 6 months and doing so well. This week, when she lost a sale at work, she engaged in her problem behavior of binge eating and says she doesn't know why she did not use her DBT skills instead. What intervention is her DBT therapist likely to use first in session?
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Missing Links Analysis
Prolonged Exposure
Skills Acquisition
Nutrition Psychoeducation
7. Kelly begins session by saying,"Ryan left me and I've been thinking a lot about suicide this week." According to standard DBT, what should the therapist do FIRST?
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Focus the session on distress tolerance crisis survival skills.
Conduct a behavior chain analysis of the suicidal thoughts and behaviors while assessing current risk.
Explore childhood trauma and past abandonment that contributed to current suicidal thinking.
Collaborate with Kelly to choose a hospital and make a plan to get there safely.
8. Stanley calls his therapist. "My wife says I have to move out by Friday. Can you call her and explain why that's unfair?" According to DBT case management strategies, the therapist would MOST likely:
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Call his wife and advocate on his behalf.
Tell Stanley he's on his own because therapists shouldn't get involved outside of session.
Coach Stanley to advocate for himself first, stepping in directly only when clinically necessary.
Tell Stanley to practice Radical Acceptance and start packing.
DBT Strategies Score
Email Address
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