Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg Improving your skill of emotional regulation (with Shireen Rizvi)
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Dec 31, 2025 
Shireen Rizvi, a licensed clinical psychologist and expert in DBT and CBT, discusses the nuances of emotional regulation. She emphasizes the importance of matching therapy types to patient needs and highlights the role of structure in effective treatments. Shireen explains how DBT integrates radical acceptance and mindfulness, offering skills that help reduce suffering. The conversation also explores the balance between acceptance and change in therapy, along with practical techniques for self-validation and effective communication.
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Bad Therapy ≠ Therapy Failure
- Many people who say therapy "didn't work" often received poor-quality or mismatched treatment rather than therapy being ineffective.
- Shireen Rizvi emphasizes checking whether the therapist uses an evidence-based, well-trained approach before abandoning therapy.
Common Factors Have Limits
- 'Common factors' like empathy and alliance help many people but often aren't enough for severe or disabling problems.
- Shireen Rizvi notes manualized, evidence-based treatments outperform nonspecific therapy for larger problems.
Verify True CBT Practices
- When evaluating CBT, confirm the therapist assigns homework and sets clear, agreed goals with session reviews.
- Lack of homework or recurring "whatever you want to talk about" sessions likely means you're not getting true CBT.
