How DBT Helps Teenagers Improve Their Mood

All teens experience mood swings. It’s one of the defining characteristics of that age. However, some teens struggle more when it comes to mood than their peers. This struggle is often bigger than typical teenage moodiness. Some teens may feel sad, depressed, anxious, fearful, empty, or even angry, and their mood can shift rapidly. Their emotions last longer than expected, and they may struggle to contain their reactions. 

When your teen is really struggling with self-regulation, dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, may offer solutions. DBT helps teenagers improve their mood using a robust therapeutic process that goes way beyond just talking about feelings.

DBT helps teenagers to cope by utilizing four key components that help teens to manage emotions and impulses positively.

Here’s how DBT helps teenagers to improve their moods and, at the same time, empowers them to be more emotionally independent and increases their emotional resilience:

How do you Teach Mindfulness to Teens?

If you begin talking about mindfulness to a teen, you might expect to receive an eye roll in return. To a teenager, mindfulness might sound totally unrelatable, where you should be meditating all day at an ashram retreat or chanting in a temple in Thailand.

Although meditation and mantras can be part of mindfulness, mindfulness is really all about creating a greater sense of awareness. This awareness includes both yourself and the surroundings around you; you don’t have to go anywhere or do anything to be mindful, you just need to be, observe, and allow what’s happening to happen. Mindfulness matters because teens are notorious for not being very attentive to what’s happening around them, and that inattention directly feeds mood swings!

Teens can practice mindfulness in many ways, including:

• Practicing deep breathing exercises on their way to school
• Sitting still in one place and noticing what’s happening within and around them in class
• Observing small sections of the ground for details (part of a backyard, a grassy field, the forest floor)
• Acknowledging their thoughts, whatever they are, but then letting them drift away instead of arguing or trying to fix the thoughts and feelings

Therapist note: One critical part of this process is setting aside the cell phone to be free from distractions. Scrolling is the opposite of mindfulness.

How Can DBT Help Teens to Develop Emotional Regulation?

Next, DBT teaches teens how to understand and experience their emotions in a more controlled, responsive way.

Note that there is a difference between controlling emotions and not feeling them. We don’t want teens not to experience a feeling. Simultaneously, we don’t want those emotions overwhelming them to the point where a teen doesn’t feel in control. DBT emotional regulation skills help teens walk a middle path between numbness and overwhelm. 

One vital aspect of emotional regulation is accurately identifying the emotion. For example, a teen might say, “I’m so angry!” Yet, anger is vague and is often secondary to much deeper emotions, such as fear. DBT can teach your teen to look deeper in the moment, naming both anger AND the underlying roots of that anger. By identifying emotions,  teens will feel more aware, helping them feel in control of themselves and able to respond to and manage their emotions better.

DBT Helps Teenagers With Distress Tolerance

Distress tolerance is what you reach for when emotions are so great that your teen is at risk of being totally swamped by them, and they need to do something at the moment to cope. Some DBT distress tolerance skills include: 

• Deep breathing
• Distraction techniques
• Visualization exercises
• Staying positive
• Taking time out

Teens should practice these skills before they are needed, so adding distress tolerance supports to calm moments can help them remember in those emotionally flooded moments what they need to do. By having a toolbox of skills that they can use to manage stress, teens will feel more empowered and independent, supporting their development and self-esteem while also helping them manage their emotions.

How Does DBT Encourage Interpersonal Effectiveness For Teens?

The final component of DBT is interpersonal effectiveness. As you might imagine, this part is most useful in communicating and interacting with other people. Interpersonal effectiveness is significant because teens need to develop this skill, especially when it comes to relationships. Dysregulated teens may yell, exaggerate, accuse, shut down, ignore, or pretend things didn’t happen, which can damage even their closest relationships. DBT helps prevent relationship damage by helping your teen know how to behave, what to focus on, and how to choose communication strategies that prioritize effectiveness over emotional venting.

Suppose your teen is upset because they have a challenging homework assignment. They might come home and say that the teacher is “stupid.” However, what they honestly feel is anxiety, they’re scared they’re stupid, and they’re overwhelmed. Using the FAST skill, they can remember to stay fair to both themselves and their teacher as they reframe the situation: they’re being challenged, and it feels overwhelming in the moment. They need time to unwind down before they can start the assignment. Once the overwhelm is managed, they can begin, and realize that they have the skills they need to do the assignment.

DBT can help teens communicate more effectively what they feel to describe what’s happening and what they are feeling accurately. This approach lets them access resources (such as parent support) to cope with the situation.

Suffolk DBT Helps Teenagers Using Relatable, Practical DBT Techniques

Teens will always experience a wide range of emotions and moods. However, they don’t have to let those moods negatively impact their lives. By learning DBT skills, teens will learn how not just how to self-soothe and manage emotions, but how to start to live life on their own terms, with their own values and goals in mind.

Instead of their life being dictated by mood swings and emotional instability, your teen will be able to thrive in those difficult moments, leaning on truth and introspection to help them understand what they’re experiencing, and what they are feeling.

If you have a teen in your life struggling with mood issues, reach out for support and learn more about how DBT can help.

Click here for more information about teen counseling.

Frequently Asked Questions About DBT for Teens