Mental Health U

The Healing Path of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy with Kelly Gunn

• Bill Emahiser

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Unlock the secrets to mastering your emotions and forging stronger relationships with guidance from Kelly Gunn, a seasoned licensed professional clinical counselor at Unison Health. Throughout our illuminating conversation, Kelly sheds light on the transformative power of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), providing essential tools for navigating life's emotional upheavals and interpersonal complexities. Whether you're battling borderline personality disorder or simply seeking to enhance your emotional regulation, Kelly's insights into DBT's cognitive-behavioral techniques, mindfulness, and acceptance practices offer a lifeline for anyone looking to achieve mental tranquility and relationship fulfillment.

Experience the camaraderie and collective wisdom of a DBT skills group, as Kelly Gunn explains why these supportive communities often eclipse individual therapy in their impact. Learn how to harness peer support, embrace diverse perspectives, and hold yourself accountable as you implement DBT skills in your daily life. If you're searching for strategies to manage intense emotions and navigate the stormy seas of complex relationships, this episode promises a beacon of hope and practical guidance. Tune in for an engaging and informative journey toward emotional well-being with Kelly's expert navigation.

Kelli Gunn:

We're a very sociable species, whether we like it or not, and so we live in this social world. It's important for us to be able to have a have really good social skills and communication skills, and so DBT is really unique in that it has a slew of skills that we learn that are helpful for managing those.

Bill Emahiser:

Hello and welcome. I'm your Bill Emahiser, r, and you're listening to Mental Health U, the podcast dedicated to demystifying and de-stigmatizing mental health issues. So if you or someone you know is struggling with depression, anxiety, trauma or some other mental health issue, then this podcast is for you. This episode is proudly sponsored by Unison Health, dedicated to making lives better through compassionate, quality mental health and addiction treatment services. Learn more at unisonhealthorg.

Bill Emahiser:

Today we are thrilled to have special guests joining us Kelly Gunn, a dedicated and experienced licensed professional clinical counselor at Unison Health. Kelly brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise in the mental health field, particularly in a transformative therapeutic approach called Dialectical Behavioral Therapy or DBT. Currently serving as the facilitator of a dynamic DBT group called Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills Group, kelly is passionate about helping individuals develop essential skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance and interpersonal effectiveness. Her commitment to fostering mental well-being is evident in her work. She is here today to share her insights into DBT, answer questions and shed light on the incredible benefits of the skills group she leads. Kelly so excited to have you here. Welcome to the show.

Kelli Gunn:

Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.

Bill Emahiser:

Great. Well, tell us a little bit about your professional experience and how you became interested in DBT.

Kelli Gunn:

Yeah, so I sat on my journey here with Unison back in 2018 as a student intern. At that point I was working in adult therapy. Later I had the opportunity to finish out my internship working in our substance abuse program, which was really cool, but then, as soon as I graduated and obtained my credentials as an LPC here in Ohio, I decided I wanted to continue my work with Unison and that's when I had the opportunity to go over to our SPARO program and there I worked and that's really when I got my a lot of my emersment, I guess, in DBT. I got a lot of training done, a lot of the day treatment groups that I did I used DBT with and eventually I had the opportunity to facilitate the DBT skills group. So I've been doing that ever since and even though I'm technically back with our adult therapy team, I'm still doing the DBT skills group and seeing individuals for DBT, and so that's pretty much my experience so far.

Bill Emahiser:

Can you provide our listeners with a brief overview of what dialectical behavioral therapy is and how it differs from other therapeutic approaches?

Kelli Gunn:

Absolutely so. I like to think of DBT as sort of a mixed tape of therapeutic approaches. It blends cognitive, behavioral stuff with concepts of mindfulness and acceptance, so we can kind of think of it as therapy paired with practical life skills. It's all about managing emotions, improving relationships and elevating our tolerance for distress. Overall, dbt is unique because it's big on validation and has a more structured skill building vibe kinds of sets apart from other therapeutic techniques.

Bill Emahiser:

How effective has DBT been shown in addressing various mental health challenges?

Kelli Gunn:

Yeah, so DBT has quite the track record. It's great for addressing various mental health challenges, from borderline personality disorder to mood disorders, even substance abuse. There's a lot of research that has shown how effective it is for reducing self-harming behaviors and suicidal thoughts, also improving emotion regulation. It's got a tailored approach so it's like a custom fit for those dealing with intense emotions, impulsive behaviors and tricky interpersonal relationships. It's emphasis on validation and the structured step-by-step method makes it like a toolkit for people who need practical strategies to navigate their emotional landscape and all of life's unexpected hurdles.

Bill Emahiser:

Who would benefit the most from your DBT skills group?

Kelli Gunn:

So, having worked with an array of individuals dealing with different presenting problems and diagnoses, I've really found DBT to be the most helpful with individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, or BPD for short. It is most notable as a treatment for those with BPD, so it's like their go-to therapy. But it's really helpful for helping anybody reduce self-harm, intense emotional roller coasters and you know that's a lot of stuff that many with BPD face but also those with mood disorders, depression, bipolar disorder. It really helps keep those mood swings in check. But it's not specifically there's no criteria that you have to have a specific diagnosis. It's really for anybody dealing with intense emotions, issues in relationships, low distress, tolerance, anything along those lines. Anybody can really benefit from it in that way. But you are going to find a lot of information on specific populations that it's most notably helpful for. But I see I use DBT with a wide range of people and have been for a few years now.

Bill Emahiser:

So you mentioned a couple of terms that I'm not sure that everybody may know off the top of their head. So you mentioned emotional dysregulation. What? For somebody who may have never heard that term, what does that mean?

Kelli Gunn:

So we, so we know about our emotions across the span. We have a comfortable emotions and uncomfortable emotions, and for some of us, dealing with those uncomfortable emotions is incredibly difficult, so we might experience those on a high level. That causes a lot of distress for us, and so when we, when we struggle with sitting with those difficult emotions we're really struggling with being able to regulate them so we can eventually problem solve we might be making ineffective choices, seeing more harmful behaviors come out of the our inability to deal with those emotions. And so that's what's really meant by emotional dysregulation and the goal of being able to regulate our emotions in a more effective way.

Bill Emahiser:

Kelly, can you give an example or tell me what you mean when you talk about intense relationships?

Kelli Gunn:

And so I also do a lot of work with domestic violence counseling. I would say the DBT and domestic violence counseling are like my two top that I do. But we're not just talking about relationships and which domestic violence is occurring we're talking about but not just romantic partnerships either, any relationships where you know we might have issues with managing conflicts with people. We might be easily offended and become very defensive. In our relationships we might have a history of just getting into what some like to call toxic relationships. Maybe we have a lot of conflict with family members, have a hard time maintaining friendships, that sort of thing. Maybe we're you know we're always getting banned from places because we're we're having outbursts, that you know, staff members in different places, things like that. We're a very sociable species, whether we like it or not, and so we live in this social world.

Kelli Gunn:

It's important for us to be able to have a have really good social skills and communication skills, and so DBT is really unique in that it has a slew of skills that we learned that are helpful for managing those what's called interpersonal relationships and the goal of interpersonal effectiveness being able to navigate those. So it's beneficial for our life and you know the overall well-being that we try to achieve when we're setting goals for therapy.

Bill Emahiser:

Yeah, in your skills group. I'm just thinking, if I'm listening to this and I'm thinking, okay, I have some of these intense relationships, maybe I could benefit from this, or I have some struggles with emotions and kind of that roller coaster and I think this group might be helpful for me. I oftentimes hear folks ask why a group instead of individual. Could you maybe give some of your insights on how a group setting enhances the therapeutic process? For folks with these issues.

Kelli Gunn:

Yeah, definitely so. The skills group versus just individual DBT has a number of different benefits, the number one being that peer support. It's just really helpful to connect with others facing similar challenges as us. It helps us receive validation, which is really vital to DBT the feeling of being understood and less isolated. It's also helpful for applying those learned skills in everyday situations. So when we hear peers speak on how DBT has been helpful for them, we're a little bit more motivated, more intrigued in the very least, so we're more likely to continue with that treatment.

Kelli Gunn:

Accountability is another good factor. In group settings the group environment really helps. And lastly, feedback and just hearing different perspectives is another benefit to groups. We can get a lot of insight from others and it's really helpful to kind of see how we can apply these skills in different situations. We really get used to being able to hear differing perspectives or even opinions on things and being able to apply our skills in the group setting and practice it all together. So that's why kind of a brief overview of why the skills group is heavily recommended for those who really wanna benefit from DBT and it's gonna help speed that progress along, especially if you're doing both pieces some DBT on the individual level and in the skills group, but it definitely is the most recommended is the skills group, for sure.

Bill Emahiser:

Mental Health? U is brought to you by Unison Health. Unison Health Making Lives Better. You just mentioned practicing these skills in group. I'm assuming that this is not a. This sounds like a very active therapy. This does not sound like I show up for an hour and a half group or a two hour group or an hour of 50 minutes of an individual therapy session and that's it, I'm done. It sounds like there is some practice that is required. Can you talk a little bit about? Well, first of all, can you confirm that? Do you need to practice these skills that you learned in practice in group in your everyday living outside of group and outside of therapy? And, if so, how do folks apply these skills in their daily lives?

Kelli Gunn:

Yeah, definitely. So that's definitely a requirement. So the group is well, my group at least is once a week for two and a half hours, and what I always tell everybody is that we have to be engaging in therapy outside of therapy in order to really start to see those benefits in our lives, whereas you know that two and a half hours is really impactful, we're learning a lot and we're having some really good discussions and really getting to know the skills. It's not going to be much help for changing things in our everyday life unless we're committing to practicing them outside of that session and even are, like you said, the individual sessions as well. And so it's just like any other therapy it happens over time, it's not an overnight thing and the group does run for 24 weeks.

Kelli Gunn:

I do see a lot of people go through the group again Because you know, getting all that information thrown at us, it can be a little bit overwhelming at first. We're learning a lot, and so that first run through through DVT is really just letting all those skills kind of soak in getting familiar with them. It's usually when we do a second round of that or we get closer to the end of that 24 weeks that we even start to notice that we're just habitually utilizing those skills in our everyday life. So, for example, we were talking about interpersonal effectiveness. So all about improving communication relationships. A lot of people come to DVT and that's what they want to improve. They talk about relationships all the time.

Kelli Gunn:

My behaviors are impacting my relationship, something along those lines, and these are actually my favorite skills out of all of them to teach, because you know, like I said, whether we like it or not, we're a very sociable species. So it's really eye-opening to break down why we communicate with others and the world around us and the ways that we do, and so utilizing those skills there's lots of acronyms in DVT that we use that really give us a script specifically for conversating with other people in the best, most effective way possible dealing with conflict. And so if somebody is taking those skills, rehearsing those outside of group, the next time they're faced with a conflict situation, they're going to be that much more likely to apply those learned skills in that situation, have a better outcome, which is, you know, a domino effect into all the other parts of our well being. So, yeah, certainly you know a commitment. It's a little bit of work, but it's incredibly beneficial and definitely something where we see a lot of progress and growth.

Bill Emahiser:

Absolutely. I can only imagine that you know, you get this information, you get a chance to practice in group and then you get a chance to practice out in the real world and generalize it to your actual experience and certainly those interpersonal skills sound really valuable to just about anyone. I think any of us could probably everyone could probably benefit from some skills to enhance our relationships, whether we have intense relationships or not. Maybe just utilizing some of those skills in just to be closer to someone or maybe to get your needs met in a way that you know doesn't damage the relationship in some way. Relationships are complex, they're tough, so it sounds like DBT really really has that under control, so that's great. So, as you were talking, you're talking about interpersonal skills and practicing those. I keep going back to thinking about people who are struggling with intense or overwhelming emotions. What are some DBT self-help tips or techniques that somebody listening to this, that's experiencing those overwhelming emotions or intense emotions, could incorporate into their lives today?

Kelli Gunn:

Yeah, definitely so. For those struggling with those intense or overwhelming emotions. Beginner DBT tips that somebody could try or consider is or some of the ones that I use off the bat with my clients, individual or in the skills group is, you know, keeping an emotions journal to track your feelings, start to identify patterns, because we really got to get familiar with ourselves.

Kelli Gunn:

Self-awareness is a huge piece. We have to know what we're dealing with in order to get to the end goal, which is that problem-solving stage. So an emotions journal of some kind, journaling in general, can be really helpful to get us to understand and manage those emotions better. Another good one for similar issues practicing reality acceptance. And so there's a skill in DBT called radical acceptance, super helpful for a lot of people. It helps us acknowledge that some things are just beyond our control, and practicing being able to let go of resistance and painful realities helps us with building our tolerance for distress overall. So those are just complex examples of some starting points for beginners in DBT Great for stepping into achieving greater emotional resilience and improving our well-being over time.

Bill Emahiser:

If someone was interested in learning more about DBT on their own, what would you recommend or where would you direct them?

Kelli Gunn:

Yeah. So anybody interested in learning more about DBT or a DBT skills group, they can visit unisonhealthorg forward slash DBT. So there you'll find details on when and where our skills group takes place, my contact information, any direct questions. The website has information on how to schedule an intake assessment if that's needed, and I can be contacted directly if somebody is wondering if DBT is right for them. So I definitely recommend check that out if you're interested in learning more.

Bill Emahiser:

Well, a big thank you, Kelly, for joining us today. It's been an enlightening and empowering conversation, delving into the world of DBT and especially talking a little bit more about your skills group. Your expertise and passion for mental health shine through. I am really incredibly grateful for your valuable insights and the time that you spent talking to us and sharing with our audience. I want to thank you for being on the show.

Kelli Gunn:

Yes, thank you for having me. It's really been a lot of fun and I hope to hear from some people who have listened to the podcast.

Bill Emahiser:

Absolutely Well to our listeners. Thank you for spending time with us. It's our best hope that we provided you with some value. Remember to be kind to yourself, be kind to others and until next time, have a super fantastic day.