Attn. digital artists: Can you plse meme this asap The statement “If you do not affirm a person’s new gender identity or the person will kill themselves.” goes against everything the mental health profession has been preaching for over 30 years." and tag me/ everyone to repost? (simple clear messaging needed now)
A very smart piece, especially this: <<Therapy such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) teaches people that they should not depend on others for their emotional well-being, rather that they should “Build a life worth living.”>>
Shouldn't all good therapy begin with that commitment, that attitude, with each individual asking himself, herself, what they can do to make their own life worth living.
Thank you for this! I am sharing it widely. I knew that DBT existed and that it was helpful to many people, but I am not a mental health professional and did not know that DBT has been shown to be effective in reducing suicidality. I also did not understand why some people threaten suicide.
Excellent. I work as a counsellor at a DAFV NGO (sorry for all the letters!). “If you leave me I’ll kill myself” is now classified as Domestic Violence (Coercive Control). It’s surprising how many men and women say this.
Absolutely. In my experience the majority of people who say it in this context are male. It’s definitely classed as coercive control, as well as emotional abuse and threatening/intimidating behaviour.
Therapy should never be universally applied, especially to kids that don’t have any mental health issues to start with. “Prevention therapy” is wrong, so I probably agree with this study.
I wonder if you would explain what has lead you to conclude that “prevention therapy” is wrong, or if you would be so kind as to provide a study or source for this assertion?
Recently I have been substacking a lot on universally applied mental health efforts in America’s K12 schools, including SEL. I’m trying to sound the warning bell, but it seems the ship has sailed and there’s no stopping it.
I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on the modern-age phenomenon (or abomination) of school-based mental health practice, if you have the time. And, thank you.
Public Middle school in my area looked like a scene out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest once SEL was started in my district. I pulled my son out of public and put him into private for high school. PBIS started when my son entered Kindergarten (2009) and they just kept building/expanding on that nightmare by purchasing "new SEL curriculum" when one didn't seem to work.
I briefly looked into DBT as a therapy for substance abuse. After a long wait, I was accepted for what I will call "DBT Light" sessions. It took just two meetings for me to realize that DBT was not for me.
Looking ahead to what the full program would have been like, I saw a vast one-size-fits-all program that involved cramming the concepts from the workbook, rote memorization and regurgitation on demand. It amounts to reprogramming with no allowances for the individual's history. Also, most of the participants were too impaired in one way or another for me to want to spend an hour each week with them.
Who knows - DBT may do wonders for people with borderline personalities. My shrink had no business suggesting it to me.
Great article thank you Pamela. I’ll restack if that’s ok. I’m a SW in the uk working with teenagers and plan to do some training in DBT. Sadly our CAHMS services won’t offer therapy unless kids are in a ‘stable home environment’ and of course the highly dysregulated ones aren’t stable anywhere. It’s a vicious circle.
I don’t understand how so many professionals have bought into and spread the “if you don’t affirm your child they’ll Jill themselves”. It turns parenting and boundary setting on its head.
Random reminder that the type of social movement which threatens suicide if they don't get what they want is called "a cult"
Attn. digital artists: Can you plse meme this asap The statement “If you do not affirm a person’s new gender identity or the person will kill themselves.” goes against everything the mental health profession has been preaching for over 30 years." and tag me/ everyone to repost? (simple clear messaging needed now)
A very smart piece, especially this: <<Therapy such as Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) teaches people that they should not depend on others for their emotional well-being, rather that they should “Build a life worth living.”>>
Shouldn't all good therapy begin with that commitment, that attitude, with each individual asking himself, herself, what they can do to make their own life worth living.
Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you for this! I am sharing it widely. I knew that DBT existed and that it was helpful to many people, but I am not a mental health professional and did not know that DBT has been shown to be effective in reducing suicidality. I also did not understand why some people threaten suicide.
That’s who DBT was originally written for: people with poor emotional regulation and high urges of suicide.
Now I know!
Excellent. I work as a counsellor at a DAFV NGO (sorry for all the letters!). “If you leave me I’ll kill myself” is now classified as Domestic Violence (Coercive Control). It’s surprising how many men and women say this.
so they actually acknowledge such manipulation as coercive control?
Absolutely. In my experience the majority of people who say it in this context are male. It’s definitely classed as coercive control, as well as emotional abuse and threatening/intimidating behaviour.
and sounds like it fits under tactics often mentioned as DARVO
Mentalization-based therapy might be more effective, considering how utterly divorced from empathy so many of them are.
Yes to all of this!
However, an important caveat: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796723001560
DBT, universally applied in schools, actually causes harm.
I would love to know your thoughts on this study’s findings.
Therapy should never be universally applied, especially to kids that don’t have any mental health issues to start with. “Prevention therapy” is wrong, so I probably agree with this study.
I wonder if you would explain what has lead you to conclude that “prevention therapy” is wrong, or if you would be so kind as to provide a study or source for this assertion?
Recently I have been substacking a lot on universally applied mental health efforts in America’s K12 schools, including SEL. I’m trying to sound the warning bell, but it seems the ship has sailed and there’s no stopping it.
I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on the modern-age phenomenon (or abomination) of school-based mental health practice, if you have the time. And, thank you.
Well considering all the kids are doing worse since they started doing SEL widely shows it hasn’t helped in my opinion.
Public Middle school in my area looked like a scene out of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest once SEL was started in my district. I pulled my son out of public and put him into private for high school. PBIS started when my son entered Kindergarten (2009) and they just kept building/expanding on that nightmare by purchasing "new SEL curriculum" when one didn't seem to work.
I briefly looked into DBT as a therapy for substance abuse. After a long wait, I was accepted for what I will call "DBT Light" sessions. It took just two meetings for me to realize that DBT was not for me.
Looking ahead to what the full program would have been like, I saw a vast one-size-fits-all program that involved cramming the concepts from the workbook, rote memorization and regurgitation on demand. It amounts to reprogramming with no allowances for the individual's history. Also, most of the participants were too impaired in one way or another for me to want to spend an hour each week with them.
Who knows - DBT may do wonders for people with borderline personalities. My shrink had no business suggesting it to me.
There is no one size fits all for anyone.
Yes. True. And the harm caused by school personnel assuming all kids are damaged is inexcusable, in my view.
💯
Great article thank you Pamela. I’ll restack if that’s ok. I’m a SW in the uk working with teenagers and plan to do some training in DBT. Sadly our CAHMS services won’t offer therapy unless kids are in a ‘stable home environment’ and of course the highly dysregulated ones aren’t stable anywhere. It’s a vicious circle.
I don’t understand how so many professionals have bought into and spread the “if you don’t affirm your child they’ll Jill themselves”. It turns parenting and boundary setting on its head.
Thank you! Please share it.
Dialectics rule :)