D.E.A.R.M.A.N DBT worksheet
By
HappierTherapy
Author bio
The Happier Therapy editorial team is made up of Masters and PhD counselling psychologists. Each worksheet is created by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The worksheet then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
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What is the theory behind this D.E.A.R.M.A.N DBT worksheet?
Individuals with maladaptive personality traits are found to be stuck in situations where they lack understanding of others and cannot express themselves adequately. This creates distress in interpersonal life and affects their interpersonal relationships. To help them out this D.E.A.R.M.A.N technique is designed to describe, define, assert, reinforce, mindfulness, appear confident and negotiate. These things will help the client improve their pattern of communication and make them more aware of their maladaptive style
How will the worksheet help?
This worksheet will help clients to improve their communication, it will help them reduce anxiety while communicating and deal with the distress of not being understood by others. It will also make them more aware of the quality of their interpersonal relationships and they can work to improve them positively. They will be able to express themselves in a more appropriate way and they can acknowledge their inner feelings and express them adequately.
How to use the worksheet?
Instruct the client to pick a situation in which you are unable to communicate well. Ask them to describe the situation in a very realistic way. Ask them to use I statements while communicating and express their emotions in a more appropriate way. It is very important to reinforce others’ positive behavior and acknowledge others’ points of view while presenting ours. In last ask them to negotiate well and stick to their ultimate goal.