v iiPreface
Since the publication of the original Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills train -
ing manual in 1993, there has been an explosion of research on the applications of 
DBT across disorders. My pilot and first DBT study focused on the treatment of highly suicidal adults. Now, we have research demonstrating the efficacy of DBT skills training with suicidal adolescents, as well as adults with borderline personal-ity disorder, eating disorders, treatment-resistant depression, substance use, and a variety of other disorders. A diagnosis of a mental disorder is not required, however, to benefit from DBT skills. Friends and family members of individuals with difficul -
ties will find these skills helpful; kids in elementary school through high school can gain from these skills. Businesses will find DBT skills useful in creating better work environments. All the DBT therapists I know practice these skills in their own lives on a routine basis. I myself am grateful for the skills because they have made my life a lot easier. As someone once said to me, “Aren’t these skills your mother was sup -
posed to teach you?” I always say yes, but for many people their mother just did not or was not able to get around to it.
I developed many of the skills by reading treatment manuals and treatment lit -
erature on evidence-based behavioral interventions. I reviewed what therapists told their patients to do and then repackaged those instructions in skills handouts and worksheets and wrote teaching notes for therapists. For example, the skill “oppo -
site action” is a set of instructions based on exposure-based treatments for anxiety disorders . The major change was to generalize the strategies to fit treatment of emo -
tions other than anxiety.  “Check the facts” is a core strategy in cognitive therapy