Bifocal, the DBT app for iOS
The DBT skills glossary.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy teaches four groups of skills: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Each page below explains one skill — what it is for, how to do it, a worked example and the mistakes that make it fail — and links to the guides that go deeper.
Written by Henry Lightfoot, who uses DBT and builds Bifocal. Last updated. 12 skills across 4 modules.
At a glance
12 skills
| Skill | Module | Use it when |
|---|---|---|
| Mindfulness WHAT and HOW | Mindfulness | You want to notice what is happening now instead of being swept along by it. |
| Wise Mind | Mindfulness | You need to decide something and both your feelings and the facts matter. |
| STOP | Distress Tolerance | You are about to act on an urge and need a few seconds before deciding. |
| ACCEPTS | Distress Tolerance | The emotion is too high to solve the problem and you need to get through the next hour. |
| Pros and Cons | Distress Tolerance | An urge feels urgent and you need a reason to wait. |
| Emotion regulation model | Emotion Regulation | An emotion feels out of proportion, or the same one keeps coming back. |
| Check the Facts | Emotion Regulation | An emotion is intense and you are about to act on a conclusion you have not tested. |
| Opposite Action | Emotion Regulation | The emotion does not fit the facts, or acting on its urge would make things worse. |
| ABC PLEASE | Emotion Regulation | Your emotions tip over more easily than usual, or you want fewer crises in the first place. |
| Cope Ahead | Emotion Regulation | You know a hard conversation or event is coming and want a plan you can actually use. |
| Build Mastery | Emotion Regulation | Low mood or helplessness has shrunk what you attempt. |
| GIVE and FAST | Interpersonal Effectiveness | You need to ask for something or say no without losing the relationship or yourself. |
DBT module
Mindfulness
Noticing what is happening now, without immediately judging it or pushing it away.
Mindfulness WHAT and HOW
ReadAlso: core mindfulness
DBT mindfulness has three WHAT skills (observe, describe, participate) and three HOW skills (non-judgmentally, one-mindfully, effectively). Here is how each one works.
Wise Mind
ReadWise Mind is the DBT state of mind that holds reasonable mind and emotion mind together. What it feels like, how to find it, and what it is not.
DBT module
Distress Tolerance
Getting through a moment you cannot change yet, without making it worse.
STOP
ReadAlso: STOP skill · stop take a step back observe proceed mindfully
STOP is a DBT distress tolerance skill: Stop, Take a step back, Observe, Proceed mindfully. How to use it when an urge is about to make a decision for you.
ACCEPTS
ReadAlso: distraction skills · crisis survival skills
ACCEPTS is a DBT distress tolerance skill with nine ways to take your attention off an overwhelming moment, from Activities and Contributing to Sensations and Vacation.
Pros and Cons
ReadAlso: pros and cons skill · four-way pros and cons
The DBT pros and cons skill compares acting on an urge with resisting it, in the short and long term. A four-cell table that gets you through a crisis without deciding by impulse.
DBT module
Emotion Regulation
Understanding where an emotion comes from, and lowering the chance it runs the day.
Emotion regulation model
ReadAlso: model of emotion · emotion regulation model · chain of emotion
DBT explains an emotion as a chain: vulnerability, prompting event, interpretation, body response, action urge and aftereffects. Understanding the chain shows where to intervene.
Check the Facts
ReadAlso: checking the facts · fact checking emotions
Check the Facts is a DBT emotion regulation skill: name the emotion, separate the event from the interpretation, then test it against evidence before acting.
Opposite Action
ReadAlso: opposite to emotion action · acting opposite
Opposite action means acting against an emotion's urge when the emotion does not fit the facts. Here is when it applies, when it is unsafe, and how to do it all the way.
ABC PLEASE
ReadAlso: PLEASE skill · ABC skill
ABC PLEASE is the DBT skill for reducing vulnerability: Accumulate positives, Build mastery, Cope ahead, and PLEASE — treat illness, eat, limit mood-altering substances, sleep, exercise.
Cope Ahead
ReadAlso: coping ahead · cope ahead skill
Cope Ahead is a DBT skill for rehearsing a difficult future situation in detail, including the coping skill you will use, so the plan survives when stress narrows your thinking.
Build Mastery
ReadAlso: building mastery · mastery skill
Build Mastery is a DBT emotion regulation skill: do one thing each day that creates competence and a sense of control, starting small and increasing the difficulty.
DBT module
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Asking for what you need, saying no, and keeping your self-respect while you do it.
Frequently asked questions
How many DBT skills are there?
DBT is taught as four modules — mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness — containing around twenty named skills and dozens of variations. This glossary covers twelve of the most used, and each entry links to the guides that go deeper.
What are the four DBT modules?
Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Mindfulness is the foundation: the other three assume you can notice what you are feeling and doing before you try to change it.
Do I need to be in therapy to use DBT skills?
No. The skills are self-management tools and can be practised on your own. Full DBT is a structured treatment with individual therapy, a skills group and coaching, and it is worth asking a clinician about if you are struggling. These pages are education, not assessment or treatment.
Which DBT skill should I learn first?
If your main problem is surviving crises, start with STOP and TIPP. If you want to understand your emotions, start with the emotion regulation model and check the facts. If you keep losing relationships over how you ask for things, start with DEAR MAN and GIVE.
Go deeper
Distress Tolerance
TIPP in DBT: fast relief for overwhelming emotions
The full TIPP sequence, why body chemistry works when reasoning does not, and how to use it safely.
Practice
How to use a DBT diary card without turning it into homework
What to record, how often, and how to make a card a therapist can actually read.
Chain Analysis
Chain Analysis, step by step
How to take a target behaviour apart link by link, and where the skills fit back in.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
DEAR MAN: how to ask for what you need
The full script for making a request, with the GIVE and FAST skills that keep the relationship and your self-respect intact.
Distress Tolerance
Radical acceptance, explained
What acceptance is not, and how to stop fighting a reality that has already happened.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
The DIME game: how hard should you ask?
A structured way to decide how firmly to make a request before you open your mouth.
All DBT guides, including the comparison ofDBT apps for iPhone.
The app behind the glossary
Practise these skills in Bifocal.
Diary cards, skill learning content and TIPP tools on your iPhone. Everything is stored on the device and in your own private iCloud, works offline, and needs no account.
Download on the App StoreNo account · On-device storage · Works offline