2009 - Dialectical behavior therapy for binge eating and bulimia by Safer Telch & Chen

Author:Safer, Telch & Chen
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Emotion Regulation Skills

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lar action is skillful or unskillful for the purposes one has in mind. If one desires long-term happiness and well-being, being able to discern whether binge eating leads to this goal is useful. Additionally, if harsh or critical judging of one’s emo- tions increases distress and decreases well-being, a goal would be to drop this type of judging. Ultimately, the question regarding judging is whether or not it is used skillfully in the service of one’s goals.

DISCUSSION P OINT:

“Any comments or reactions to these goals?”

MODEL FOR DESCRIBING EMOTIONS

An important frst step in learning to effectively regulate emotions is developing the ability to identify and label all the various constituents of an emotional response. Doing so breaks down the emotional response into a series of components, facilitat- ing a person’s ability to understand what is happening and at which point he or she might effectively intervene. The model for describing emotions (Appendix 5.2) provides a schema for dissecting the various parts that make up the client’s emo- tional response so that she or he will be better able to understand, change, control, modify, accept, or regulate her or his emotions.

Emotions are relatively short-lived phenomena. When an emotion lasts for a longer time, it is called a mood. An emotional response may be sustained if it becomes refred—for example, a client who is angry and ruminating may repeat the same infammatory thoughts and images about the person with whom she or he is infuriated. Emotion Regulation skills are intended to help clients learn how to identify and interrupt unskillful sequences that contribute to unwanted emo- tion dysregulation.

Therapists use the model for describing emotions (Appendix 5.2) to highlight the complexity of emotions, which involve the interaction of multiple systems. When a client is anxious, for instance, the whole system is activated. The emotional expe- rience includes changes in the brain, physical changes in the body, urges toward action, and so forth. Underscore for clients that the good news with regard to such a multifaceted system is that, by changing just one part of a response, clients can change their emotional experience. Because it may be more diffcult to modify some components as opposed to others, the key—after identifying all the parts of the emotion—is to fgure out which would be the easiest to change. That said, empha- size that this process is not effortless and requires perseverance and patience.

Therapists should reinforce the practice of Mindfulness skills in this context. For example, the Observe and Describe skills are important for identifying the trigger (prompting event) for an emotion. Emotions do not occur on their own; something always triggers an emotion. Identifying what prompted an emotion can be quite diffcult, yet doing so is a critical skill to develop. Mindfulness skills such as Observe and Describe are key in this process.

Referring to the model, explain that prompting events may be internal trig- gers, including elements such as one’s thoughts, memories, or physical sensations.

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