Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT)

DBT is a form of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy that was original developed to treat people with Borderline Personality Disorder (BDP). DBT was originally developed as a treatment for people with BPD who frequently do not respond to other forms of therapy, such as, standard Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). DBT has since been shown to be a more effective treatment for a wide range of other mental health conditions than standard treatments.

DBT has been shown to be an effective treatment in helping people manage intense emotions, such as, impulsiveness, anger, fear, anxiety and low mood. DBT also helps people who experience relationship difficulties and habitual behaviours, such as substance misuse, OCD, Deliberate Self Harm and many others. 

Dialectical’ means learning to understand how two things that seem opposite could both be true. For example, accepting yourself and changing your behaviour might feel contradictory. But DBT teaches that it's possible for you to achieve both these goals simultaneously. Marsha Linehan, the research psychologist who developed DBT based it on the philosophical dialectical principle of hypothesis and antithesis, creating synthesis. Or to put it another way, that two things that seem to oppose each other can evolve or synthesis into something new. This synthesis helps people to regulate their emotions and thoughts by learning about triggers that lead to unhelpful and distressing emotionally reactive states. DBT helps people to develop understanding of the sequence of events and the skills necessary to manage these triggers more effectively. Helping them to manage their emotion, relationships and lives in more fulfilling ways. 


 


 


Our DBT Practitioner

  • Mark DeFreitas - BACP (Accred)

    I have worked as a Counsellor and Psychotherapist since 2001. My abilities as a therapist have benefitted greatly from working in NHS, Clinical Psychology, Education, Employee Assistance Programs and Substance Misuse settings. I have experience of helping people with an extensive range of issues. My approach is evidence based, on research from psychology and neuroscience. I will help you develop the practical skills that research shows to be effective in untangling ourselves from emotional distress.

    My aim is to develop an open, trusting and collaborative therapeutic relationship with you. I aim to help you develop the practical skills necessary to reduce your negative emotions and to direct your life towards greater personal fulfilment, replacing limiting life patterns with greater harmony with yourself and others. I offer both long and short term therapy.

    For as long as I can remember I have been intrigued by the age old question, of how do we create a happy and fulfilling life? I believe that neurosciences study of the relationship between the brain and the mind have provided the most convincing answers to this most enduring of questions. These new discoveries have helped us to realise that many of the things we do to improve the quality of our lives don’t actually help. And in the long term they often make things worse. This goes some way in explaining why many people spend years trying to improve the quality of their lives without success. In our attempts to live better we all too often unknowingly do the wrong things, although for the right reasons.


    My approach is based on what neuroscience has revealed about how to live happier more fulfilling lives. I will help you learn the practical skills that clinical trials have shown to have positive and lasting effects on our mental health. The aim of my work isn’t solely to reduce negative emotions, but to help direct you towards greater life fulfilment. I believe living well isn’t solely the reduction of suffering but also feeling fulfilled.

    As our mental well-being is so intimately connected to our physical well-being, these changes can help us maintain our physical as well mental health. By reducing toxic stress that has a negative effect on both the body and the mind, helping restore our natural body rhythms of sleep, appetite and recovery.

    I will support you to develop the necessary skills to overcome your personal difficulties. Working together we will bridge the gap between where you find yourself in life, and where you would want to be. As your therapist, I will support you in developing the necessary skills for life to flow more naturally. Therapy is an opportunity for you to develop greater clarity of mind, to see through the psychological fog, which will enable you to see how to establish the life you want for yourself. Therapy is a space within which you can find greater personal freedom.


    Qualifications:


    BACP Accredited Psychotherapist

    Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT) Diploma (Distinction)

    Advanced Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Practice (University of Warwick)

    Diploma in Hypnotherapy and Psychotherapy

    Diploma in Integrative Counselling (University of Warwick)


    Mark DeFreitas

    Psychotherapist

    BACP(Accred)

    07738835449