Raise your hand if you’ve ever found your emotions running the show—and not in a good way. Don’t worry you’re in good company here. For a lot of folks in early addiction recovery, the emotional farris wheel is part of it. One minute you’re great, the next everything is spiraling out of control and you just fell in love with the person walking down the sidewalk. That’s the beauty of dialectical behavior therapy. It’s not a magic cure but it is a roadmap back to yourself and sanity.
You don’t need fixing because you’re not broken. You’re a person with the disease of addiction who has learned to survive hard things. Were your survival techniques ideal? Not really, but they worked well enough until they didn’t and now you’re in recovery learning new coping skills. DBT is one of those new skills. A way of dealing with the world that’s grounded in real-life.
Getting sober doesn’t mean life gets flipped onto easy mode. You’re still going to experience conflict, heartbreak, anxiety, and all those annoying, uncomfortable things that make us human. But with DBT's distress tolerance skills, you don’t have to self-destruct every time things get hard.
“We teach crisis survival skills like paced breathing and muscle relaxation,” Monument’s Clinical Director Bradley Wagner explains. These might sound simple, but they work like a charm. Slowing your breath. Dropping your shoulders. Placing an ice pack on the back of your neck. These small acts short-circuit panic. They buy you time. They give you back your choice.
Feelings aren’t facts. But boy when you’re in the thick of emotional dysregulation, it sure does feel like a wave of impending doom that you can’t outrun.
This is where DBT shines. You learn how to recognize what you’re feeling, name it, and then not be ruled by it.
“Mindfulness helps clients get out of their emotional minds,” says Bradley. “It’s about tuning into what’s actually happening in your body and brain, without judging it. It’s catching the impulse to pick a fight, use, or shut down—and choosing differently. That’s real power.
Have a hard time saying, “no” to someone without feeling guilty? “Interpersonal effectiveness teaches assertive communication,” Clinical Director Wagner shares. In other words, how to ask for what you need without bulldozing or shrinking.
Want to learn how to stop people-pleasing, how to hold your ground, and stand up for your need? DBT is your answer. These aren’t just therapy wins—they’re life wins.
We all get caught up in our thoughts sometimes but for some people, their minds become a warzone. Mindfulness is the skill that helps you stay here. Right now. In your body. In your breath. In your life.
You’ll practice simple exercises like five senses grounding or mindful walking. And over time, you start to realize: you’re not your thoughts. You’re not your urges. You’re not your past.
You’re the person watching all of that. And you get to decide what happens next.
Addiction stripped away your tools. DBT helps rebuild them.
It’s not a quick fix. It’s a practice. A process. A way of being with yourself that’s grounded, compassionate, and steady—even when life isn’t.
If you’re ready to learn the skills that can carry you through recovery and beyond, reach out today.