Dialectical Behaviour Therapy was founded by Dr Marsha Lineham for individuals living with Borderline Personality Disorder. DBT focuses on four components; mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance and emotional regulation. However, in order to remain neurodivergent friendly, interpersonal effectiveness has been removed. Instead, there’s a whole section on our sensory needs and distress tolerance now includes information on and tools on managing meltdowns.
While DBT skills can be valuable and helpful, they don’t always meet the needs of neurodivergent individuals – especially Autistic and ADHD individuals. That’s why I created this workbook, a way for neurodivergent folks to learn DBT skills in a way that works for you, at your own pace.
I want to reiterate that DBT does not focus on compliance or changing who we are. It’s about giving us the skills to identify as well as regulate our emotions, find ways to manage our distress and both recognise, fulfil and advocate for our needs.
The Neurodivergent Friendly Workbook of DBT Skills – Digital Download — lived experience educator
As neurodivergent individuals, we often experience different types of distress from living in a society that isn’t designed for our differences. It isn’t just emotional distress but also meltdowns and sensory distress that we experience too. One of the best things we can do to support ourselves is manage our needs and respond to our distress in a way that works for us.
This is where Dialectical Behaviour Therapy skills come in! Unfortunately, DBT skills aren’t always accessible, straight-forward or neurodivergent friendly. That’s why this workbook of DBT skills has been reframed to be neurodivergent affirming while incorporating sensory strategies, managing meltdowns, stimming and more. Written and designed by an autistic ADHDer, you can learn skills and tool using the five sections:
- Everyday Well-being
- Mindfulness
- Distress Tolerance
- Emotional Regulation
- Sensory Needs
The best part? Each section is colour coordinated with an appealing colour to keep things colourful, engaging and sensory friendly. There’s a whole bunch of different tools and worksheets too!
Not sure why you might want or need this workbook? Let me help you out. In this workbook, you can find skills to support you with:
The Neurodivergent Friendly Workbook of DBT Skills
- recognising meltdown triggers
- managing meltdowns when they happen
- figuring out your sensory needs
- preventing sensory overload
- developing mindfulness strategies
- identifying your emotions
- learning ways to respond to your distress – neurodivergent style
Further reading,
