Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills – Turn your “What If” into the best possible scenario

I use Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, to help clients work with skills that they can use in stressful moments, or times when they need to regulate.

One of the skills is to improve the moment. One of the improve the moment skills is to use imagination. Imagination’s a fascinating thing because we all use it.

We take something in our mind and we create a story with it that doesn’t have a sight in order to tell the story, but something that gives us a picture in our mind.

Children use it all the time. If you can capture the skill of imagination, you can use it to your benefit to set up great things that are going to be inspirational and send better sensations to your body.

Oftentimes, we use imagination to do the what ifs and the negative, but here’s how we could use it to what ifs in the positive and create something that’s going to be helpful.

Let’s say, for example, you’re applying for a job. If you use your imagination to think about the job – sitting in that job, getting the job, getting the call from the job, that you’ve got it – then how it feels to have this job and be successful, that’s going to inspire you and give you sensations that will help you in the interview, and even the motivation to fill out the application in the first place.

Oftentimes, we use the motivation or imagination to the negative, where we’re going, “What if I don’t get the job?” If you’re going to do that what if, do it to the positive, because in our imagination we can change all kinds of things.

Make sure you change it to your favor, and try imagination for the next time you want to start to feel better, using sensations from your imagination, to give a reality to something that’s going to be successful or beneficial for you.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, also known as DBT, helps clients gain skills they can use in stressful moments.  Often times we go let our minds play the “what if” game and it takes us to a negative place.  “What if I don’t get the job?”  And the stressful moment becomes worse just imagining the bad that would come of that.

With DBT training, you can use imagination to help improve the moment.  Imagination is a fascinating thing that we all use.  We take something in our mind and create a pictorial story.  If you can capture the skill of imagination, you can use it to send positive messages and better sensations to your body.

The next time you play the “what if” game, use imagination to imagine a positive outcome.  See yourself thinking about the job, interviewing for the job and getting the job.  The  sensations you send your body will actually help you get that job, and you’ll feel less stressed.