DBT PalTrack Your DBT Skills in Seconds
DBT teaches its skills in four modules. Each page below covers one skill: when you'd reach for it, how to do it step by step, and what tends to go wrong. If you'd rather practice on paper, most skills have a matching worksheet.
The foundation the other three modules rely on: noticing what's happening without getting swept away by it.
The DBT body scan is a progressive awareness technique for noticing where you hold distress in your body. A practical guide to using body scanning for distress tolerance.
The DBT describe skill means putting words to your experience without judgment. Learn how to label emotions accurately and why it reduces their intensity.
The DBT effectiveness skill means doing what works instead of what feels right or fair. Learn how to practice it when emotions pull you toward ineffective action.
The DBT non-judgmental stance means dropping evaluative labels like good and bad in favor of descriptive ones. Learn how to practice it and why it matters.
The DBT observe skill means noticing thoughts, feelings, and sensations without reacting. Learn how to practice it and when it matters most.
One-mindfully is the DBT skill of doing one thing at a time, fully. How to practice it when your attention keeps splitting.
The DBT participate skill means throwing yourself into the current moment without self-consciousness. Learn how to practice full engagement in daily life.
Wise mind in DBT is the overlap of emotion mind and reasonable mind. Learn how to access it, when to use it, and common mistakes to avoid.
For getting through a crisis without making it worse. Start here if you're often in intense distress.
DBT crisis survival strategies help you get through intense emotional moments without making things worse. Know when to use survival mode vs. problem-solving.
The DBT ACCEPTS skill uses Activities, Contributing, Comparisons, Emotions, Pushing away, Thoughts, and Sensations to distract from overwhelming distress.
The DBT half-smile and willing hands skill uses body posture to shift emotions. Small physical changes create openness and reduce resistance to acceptance.
The DBT IMPROVE the moment skill uses Imagery, Meaning, Prayer, Relaxation, One thing, Vacation, and Encouragement to make distress more bearable.
The DBT pros and cons skill is a 4-quadrant decision tool for crisis moments. Weigh acting on urges vs. tolerating distress before you make it worse.
Radical acceptance in DBT means fully acknowledging reality without approval or resignation. The hardest distress tolerance skill, but the most transformative.
The DBT STOP skill helps you pause before acting impulsively. Stop, Take a step back, Observe, and Proceed mindfully to avoid making things worse.
DBT self soothe with five senses uses sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch to calm your nervous system during distress. A practical guide to each sense.
The TIPP DBT skill uses Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing, and Paired muscle relaxation to change your body chemistry in minutes during a crisis.
Turning the mind in DBT is the repeated choice to accept reality. Not a one-time decision but an ongoing practice that makes radical acceptance possible.
For understanding your emotions and shifting the ones that aren't serving you, over time.
ABC PLEASE in DBT stands for Accumulate positive emotions, Build mastery, Cope ahead, plus PLEASE self-care: illness, eating, substances, sleep and exercise.
Accumulate positive emotions in DBT means building daily pleasant experiences and long-term values-based living to reduce emotional vulnerability.
Build mastery in DBT means doing one thing each day that builds competence and confidence, reducing emotional vulnerability over time.
Check the facts is a DBT emotion regulation skill for reality-testing your emotional reactions before deciding whether to use opposite action or problem solving.
Cope ahead in DBT means mentally rehearsing how you'll handle a difficult situation before it happens, so your coping plan is accessible when emotions spike.
Opposite action in DBT means doing the opposite of what your emotion tells you to do when that emotion doesn't fit the facts. Here's how to practice it.
The PLEASE skill in DBT reduces emotional vulnerability by maintaining physical health: treating illness, balanced eating, avoiding substances, sleep, and exercise.
Problem solving in DBT is the emotion regulation skill for changing situations when your emotions fit the facts and there's something you can actually do about it.
For asking for what you need, saying no, and handling conflict without losing the relationship or your self-respect.
Six levels of validation from Marsha Linehan, with real examples of what to say when someone's upset. It starts with just paying attention.
DEAR MAN is the DBT skill for asking for what you need without guilt or aggression. Learn each step with examples you can use today.
The DBT FAST skill helps you maintain self-respect during difficult conversations. Learn Fair, no Apologies, Stick to values, Truthful—with examples.
The DBT GIVE skill helps you navigate tough conversations without damaging the relationship. Learn the four steps with examples.
Walking the middle path in DBT means holding two truths at once—acceptance and change, your needs and theirs. Learn how to practice this core dialectic.
The same skills, applied to one situation at a time.
Anxiety distorts threat perception. Check the Facts is the DBT skill that systematically corrects it. Step-by-step guide with examples.
Cope Ahead lets you rehearse coping for social situations before they happen. Reduce social anxiety for presentations, parties, and hard conversations.
Use the DEAR MAN DBT skill to ask your partner for what you need without starting a fight. Includes real dialogue examples and scripts.
Opposite action is the core DBT skill for depression. Learn how to act against depressive urges to withdraw, isolate, and stay in bed.
Radical acceptance doesn't mean approving of your loss. It means stopping the fight against reality so you can grieve and eventually move forward.
Adapt DBT's self-soothe with five senses for PTSD. Learn to build a personalized grounding kit and avoid sensory triggers during flashbacks.
TIPP is the fastest DBT skill for anxiety and panic attacks. Learn how temperature and paced breathing stop anxious spirals in minutes.
Anxiety pulls you into emotion mind. Learn how to use DBT's wise mind skill to step out of anxious spirals and make balanced decisions.
Diary cards, urge logging, and skill tracking in about two minutes a day. Private and on-device.
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