The Garden of Emotions Metaphor in DBT
United States Department of Homeland Security
Key Points
- Many of us try to control emotions in a way that was modeled to us.
- This especially applies to individuals who have been traumatized and emotionally abused.
- The main goal of TF-DBT is to see and treat our emotions the same way you would see and treat a garden.
- If you want a healthy garden, it would make no sense to control, coerce, manipulate, guilt, or avoid the flowers.
- What flowers and emotions need to survive, thrive, and stabilize is to be nurtured and cultivated.
- TF-DBT has six interventions to nurture a garden of emotions. Each of these strategies is a metaphor:
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- Plant the right seeds
- Weed out myths
- Check the soil
- Pest control
- Take care of the garden
- Fertilize
Materials Downloads
DBT for Trauma Online Training
Learn how to support clients struggling with trauma and complex trauma without reliance on traditional exposure methods.
Earn 9.25 CE Credits$297