The DBT Workbook for Alcohol and Drug Addiction

Book excerpt: When recovering from addiction and managing a mental illness, it can feel like both have the ability to take over your life. By applying the principles of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to the 12 Steps addiction recovery approach, this workbook equips you with the tools to regulate your emotions, develop self-management skills, reduce anxiety and stress, and feel yourself again. DBT is a combination of CBT, mindfulness, and distress tolerance skills tailored to those who feel emotions very intensely. Exploring skills and strategies drawn from DBT that work in tandem with your recovery program, this book provides a new roadmap to reduce symptoms of emotional distress and to support your sobriety and mental health. Written by clinical psychologist, Laura Petracek, this ground-breaking workbook draws on the author's clinical and lived experience of addiction recovery, bipolar disorder, and other mental health challenges.