Queering Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): An Affirming Approach for Queer, Trans, and Neurodivergent Individuals
Are you struggling with regulating your emotions, coping with sensory distress or seeking a supportive space to enhance your coping skills? Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an incredibly helpful treatment modality intended to help individuals regulate emotions and reduce the occurrence of harmful coping behaviors.
DBT was developed in the 1970s by psychologist Marsha Linehan, and designed to treat chronic suicidality in people with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Over the years, the modality has been adapted, and at Grounded Wellbeing, we’ve started Queering DBT – a neurodivergent-friendly DBT group for queer, trans, and gender-expansive individuals.
Queering DBT still highlights some of the key modules of standard DBT – Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, and Distress Tolerance – and even adds coping skills for sensory-related issues. This way, neurodivergent folks wanting to learn the skills can do so in a way that supports the unique neurodivergence experience.
Research has shown substantial evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of DBT in helping clients to find more peace in their lives. DBT is helpful for treating a number of issues, including self-harm, substance use, and general emotion dysregulation [1]. Further, the skills taught during DBT can support queer and trans folx with situations associated with daily challenges, such as microaggressions, coping with systemic oppression, deconstructing internalized transphobia and homophobia, and learning more about our fight or flight nervous system responses.
For example, distress tolerance skills can support queer and trans individuals with tolerating stress in our environment, as it teaches you the ability to perceive the environment as it is, without demanding that it be different [2]. Distress tolerance skills are helpful when actively in distress, but they need to be practiced before a crisis occurs and are very helpful when we cannot sort out or name our emotions [2]. Practicing these skills in a space that is affirming, and exclusive to queer and trans folx creates a safety foundation to use them outside of the space.
In addition, the standard structure can be a bit difficult for neurodivergent folks to benefit from truly. The standard worksheets and handouts are quite wordy and printed in black and white, and standard DBT has a very rigid structure. Folks that are neurodivergent aren’t always able to learn as effectively in this type of structure, and further, there aren’t enough queer and gender-affirming spaces for groups like this in Atlanta.
Participants of Queering DBT receive the Neurodivergent-Friendly Workbook of DBT Skills by Sonny Jane Wise as part of the weekly cost. Over the course of 8 weeks, members learn the skills in an experiential and digestible format. Additionally, members are able to learn the skills in a -queer and neurodivergent affirming environment, providing an experience that allows for sustainable learning of the skills.
Our queer and neurodivergent folks deserve more spaces that have been created specifically for them, and we’re excited to offer this space for them. We hope this space will allow for transformative healing and community building where clients can learn and practice the skills in a supportive and warm space.
Are you interested in our Queering DBT group? We’re currently conducting phone consults and plan to launch the group this summer! Submit our new client inquiry form or email amber@groundedwellbeing.org.
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