Calming the Emotional Storm: Using Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills to Manage Your Emotions and Balance Your Life

Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a therapeutic modality that was originally developed for the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD). Since the advent of this therapy, millions of people without the disorder have found DBT skills endlessly useful for helping manage out-of-control emotions and curbing impulsive behaviours that they just can’t stop.

Calming the Emotional Storm is the first book to offer an accessible, general introduction to these DBT skills for anyone who feels overwhelmed by their emotions or feels that their emotions have led them to experience out-of-control behaviours and personal crises. Readers learn to understand and manage their emotions and begin to choose their actions rather than acting on impulses. They also practice calming their emotions in times of stress by embracing acceptance and fostering positive emotions about themselves. These life-changing skills can save many readers from unnecessary suffering due to the “emotional storm” inside.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Mindfulness: Seeing Things As They Are
2. Don’t Just React: Choose How to Act
3. Learning about Your Emotions
4. Quieting Your Emotions
5. Leave the Judgments Out of It
6. How to Be More Effective in Your Life
7. Getting Through a Crisis without Making It Worse
8. Accepting Things As They Are
9. The Building Blocks for Positive Emotions
10. Improving Your Relationships

Conclusion

references

"In my twenty-two years in the field, I have not encountered a more comprehensive guide to managing one’s emotions. Sheri Van Dijk has taken complex psychotherapeutic processes and broken them down in an easy-to-read, accessible format. If you have ever been paralyzed with intense emotions, this is a must-read. I will be recommending this book to my patients."
- Jody Joseph Levac, MSW, RSW, PhD, director of mental health at Southlake Regional Health Centre

"This book provides a crystal clear, concise, and lively introduction to DBT techniques for the general reader. It should be helpful for anyone who is interested in growing emotionally and learning how to have a healthier life."
- Paula Fuchs, PsyD, assistant clinical professor of psychology in the department of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School