DBT for Bipolar Disorder: Emotional Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness

United States Department of Homeland Security

When providing DBT to clients with bipolar disorder, it’s important to involve their family members. It’s especially relevant to provide family members with basic psychoeducation regarding the disorder itself, while also training the family members in validation skills.
When teaching emotion regulation skills to clients with bipolar disorder, there are 2 skills in particular that stand out:
- Self-validation, which consists of 3 components: identify the emotion, allow the emotion, and understand the emotion.
- Opposite action, so clients can learn to act opposite to their urges associated with either depressive or manic states.
Even though bipolar disorder has a strong biological component, which can be treated with medication, it also has a strong behavioral component, which can be simultaneously treated with skills training. Regardless of the diagnosis, it’s more important to focus on the unique symptoms of each individual client.