The episode starts with a review of Molly and Liza's experience labeling emotions over the last week. Liza shares a journaling strategy for observing emotions in order to design a more fulfilling life, and Molly explains how taking the time to check in with herself during a busy work day made her more effective. We then review the first step in coping with unwanted emotions: breaking them down into component parts. We hone in on the feeling of shame, as many individuals who struggle with emotion regulation are also highly shame-prone. We explore how feelings like shame and anger are related through a discussion of primary vs. secondary emotions, and how this distinction can help you identify how you're *really* feeling. We also describe how noticing anger as a secondary emotion to shame is particularly useful for understanding the concept of "white fragility," and we will continue to review skills to combat white fragility in the coming weeks. We switch it up this week by ending with a nerdy DBT emotion regulation mythbusters game. Enjoy!

In this episode, Molly and Liza wrap up their teaching of mindfulness skills with homework review and then introduce the next set of skills: Emotion Regulation. Molly was proud to report that she followed up on her coaching from Episode 4, in which she consulted Wise Mind when anger showed up and responded assertively. After making a quick plug for practicing DBT skills (particularly Wise Mind) because of the feeling of mastery that comes with it, Molly and Liza get into the topic of the week: how to understand and name emotions. Using one too many car examples, we explain the importance of accurately labeling emotions as the first step to regulating them. We describe the different components of an emotion including physiological sensations, thoughts and interpretations, and behavioral urges. Lastly, Molly coaches Liza on how to cope with rumination after receiving negative feedback. We hope you enjoy!

The Therapists in the Wild are joined by their close friend and colleague, Madison Perry, to answer your listener questions! Madison is a very talented child and family therapist with experience offering adherent DBT to youth and families. We are thrilled to have her, as she brings a unique perspective given her experience providing DBT to the larger family system. In this episode, we all weigh in on listener questions regarding why therapists share personal examples in DBT, whether we should aspire to be mindful all the time, how to apply mindfulness skills to a variety of day-to-day issues, and what to do when you’re practicing dialectical thinking in an interpersonal conflict and the other person is not. We discuss the distinction between rumination/worry vs. reminiscing/problem solving, and Molly shares a West Wing quote to explain how therapists can use their personal experiences to help clients (and now has homework to actually watch West Wing :). We hope you enjoy!

This episode, we start by reviewing how to have a Nonjudgmental stance. Liza shares a "fire-y" example, and Molly tries to channel her dogs by adopting a "beginner's mind." Then, we get into the skill of the week: consulting Wise Mind to act Effectively. We teach you to be the captain of your own ship, to make decisions taking into account both your goals and the context you're in. We describe the differences between Emotion Mind, Reasonable Mind, and Wise Mind, and then show you how to get into Wise Mind with an impromptu mindfulness exercise. Finally, Liza coaches Molly on using her Wise Mind to act Effectively when anger shows up. We hope you enjoy! Please share your feedback and questions with us at therapistsinthewild@gmail.com. Stay skillful!

Liza and Molly begin the episode by reviewing their practice of the fundamental DBT mindfulness "What" skills: Observe, Describe, and Participate. Molly reflects on the importance of using these skills to notice and name uncomfortable emotions, and Liza warns listeners about the dangers of significant others using DBT skills against you ;) We then teach the skill of the week: Nonjudgmentally. We know it's hard to avoid judgments about being nonjudgmental (we had them too!) so we address many of the common concerns and misconceptions about this skill. Judgments (about yourself or others) negatively impact relationships, emotions, and problem solving, so we provide steps to re-frame inevitable judgments using the core Observe and Describe mindfulness skills we reviewed last week. Finally, Molly provides coaching on a very timely situation that Liza is having lots of judgments about. We encourage you to practice the skill of acting nonjudgmentally alongside us, and share your experiences with us at therapistsinthewild@gmail.com. Stay skillful! 

In this episode, we discuss our experience practicing dialectical thinking (hint: it wasn't as simple as it sounded last week!). We laughed about our past judgments about mindfulness and discussed what we've since learned about its practical applicability in everyday life.  We then teach the skills of the week: Observe, Describe and Participate. Finally, Liza coaches Molly to apply each of these skills to stay present in conversations when feeling "fried" after a long day. As always, we encourage you to practice these skills alongside us and share your experiences with us at therapistsinthewild@gmail.com. We hope you enjoy!

In this episode, we introduce you to co-hosts Molly and Liza, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and the concept of dialectical thinking. We discuss how dialectics can help you get unstuck in intra or interpersonal struggles. We also talk about Sweetgreen's dialectical approach to innovating during COVID-19. Finally, Molly coaches Liza to apply dialectical thinking to wedding planning in the midst of a global pandemic.