DBT Distress Tolerance Skills are meant to:
- Get through moments of intense emotion WITHOUT MAKING THINGS WORSE
- Sometimes you can't make things better, but you can brave the storm.
DBT Distress Tolerance Skills are NOT for:
- Making your life worth living
- Long-term changes
In DBT, we recognize that not every situation can be made better in the moment. Maybe you're having a fight with someone. Or maybe you're road raging. Whatever the situation, you may not be able to remember your DBT skills and suddenly become saint-like. You're human, and you have emotions. You might not be able to stop being angry when you're in a fight with someone, but you can at least not make things worse by saying every negative thing on your mind until you really hurt the other person.
How this app will help you:
Like all our 'Tools' apps, we'll start you off with a description of what DBT is. While DBT is a set of skills, there is also a sort of culture around it. And a way of teaching/learning it. Getting an overview of what DBT is, you can more easily see where the skills fit in, and where you can most effectively integrate them into your day-to-day.
Then we'll go over the 7 DBT Distress Tolerance skills:
• TIP
• Pros & Cons
• Distract/Soothe/Improve
• Radical Acceptance
• Willingness
• Mindfulness of Current Thoughts
• Half-Smiling
Finally, we'll start you off using the Interactive Tools:
• Suicide Prevention Hotline: While many of us come to DBT with no suicidal thoughts, some of us do. If you aren't already using this hotline as a resource, you may want to consider it. Use this tool to quickly connect to a real person when you are in moments of High Distress. Or even if you have someone else you are worried about, this can be used as well. We'll help dispel some of the stigmas and answer some of the FAQs in this tool as well.
• Fix My Temperature: Did you know that your temperature can have a huge impact on your emotions, and thus thoughts and actions? Use this tool to become more aware of what temperature settings can help trigger you, and what you can do to recognize and remedy this when it does happen.
• My Exercises: One of the fastest ways to deflate distress is through exercise. Not only does it result in your brain creating feel-good chemicals, but it often just gets you physically out of a bad situation temporarily. Use this tool to help you come up with exercises that you can do when you feel Distressed. What you do is important for your activity level.
• My DSI Activities: By going through this set of steps, you can easily go from negative to positive. Use this tool to create a list of activities that work for you in moments of Distress.
• Mental Willingness: Every notice that some days, you feel like you don't want to be doing what you're doing? And as a result, you just make a bad situation worse? By on another day, you just don't care? So suddenly a negative situation becomes neutral, or even positive? Use this tool to help you create that sense of willingness and openness created even in negative situations.
• A Week of Half Smiling: Do you know how to Half-Smile? Do you already practice it? If not, you can use this tool to give yourself challenges when it comes to Half-Smiling. Learn not only how to Half-Smile, but learn through experience how it affects you and your mood.
Many of these tools are powerful while you're first learning DBT. But they are also incredibly powerful as a refresher. Beginners and Advanced DBT practitioners will find value in this app now, and for years to come should they remember to use it.
* Note that this app can integrate with the Health App by adding 'Mindful Minutes' by completing 'Mental Willingness' entries.. This is optional and giving permission will not affect your ability to use this app.
Awesome app to learn skills for communciation and the Chain Analysis Tool is AWESOME
Johne808
I have owned this app for a lomg time. It is an incredibly thorough and useful tool for learning DBT skills and tracking. I primarily use the Quiz and Simple Diary Card, but have also used some of the tools in each of the modules. I review them from time to time, and the quiz is a great short cut to thinking about each of the skills. Videos are available on almost every topic. I also just discovered the Chain Analysis tool. AWESOME!
Amazingly effective
Puppybraille
This app is a great tool for handling tough and distressing times! It's like having a counselor or coach to remind you of skills when you can't think. You'll be able to cope ahead of time too. It's the kind of app I've wanted for a long time!
Not as useful as it could be
MacFabulous!!
This looks great, but is not formatted to an iPhone.
Developer Response
Hi MacFabulous!Sorry for the late reply (is 3 years too late?). Apple didn’t let developers reply for such a long time, but now that I can, I thought I’d respond. I’ve been working on rewriting this and all my DBT apps for the last year from scratch in my spare time. I’ve added a lot of new content and features. And... I’ve focused on improving the formatting for iPhone. No, it won’t look professional like Facebook, as I’m just a solo developer doing this in his free time (my job had nothing to do with programming). But it should work better for you. Yes, it’s been 3 years, and you may care less about DBT... but if the topic still interests you, give the update a try in a few weeks :) Oh, and thank you for spending time writing a review. I know most people don’t care to write reviews, especially if the developer doesn’t make changes. I appreciate the response :)
Love what works
Nwaas
I love this app and have the bundle. This is the only one that freezes after one option. Please fix.
Developer Response
Hi Nwaas,I’m sure you don’t use this app anymore as your review was from 3 years ago. But I thought I’d respond anyways just in case you’re still practicing DBT. I’m not fixing the button you had an issue with... but wait, before you wonder why, let me just say that I’ve rewritten this and all of my DBT apps from scratch. Yes - I am abandoning the old app entirely including that nasty button :)Come check it out in a few weeks. A lot of the content is still the same, but I’ve added a lot more including statistics, descriptions of each skill, and even new tools. Since it’ll be the first working version of this rebuilt app, there may be another button or two that don’t work as expected, but that’s all good as one of the new things I’ve added as the ability to quickly make changes and upload a new version to Apple. So instead of it taking 1-4 hours to upload a new version with even something as simple as a typo fix, it’ll take 15 seconds of typing, and 10 minutes of sipping coffee as I let my computer do the work. :)Thanks again for the review, and if this reply is irrelevant, just ignore :)
v3.8
• Added a new free tool: Chain Behavior Analysis. Therapists can view/comment on their clients progress online as well.
• Fixed some of the image selection code
• Updated some third party tools
Version 3.8
The developer, POP POP LLC, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Linked to You
The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:
Purchases
Location
Contact Info
User Content
Identifiers
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
POP POP LLC
Size
83.2 MB
Category
Health & Fitness
Compatibility
Requires iOS 10.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 10.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 10.0 or later.
iPod touch Requires iOS 10.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 11.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.
