Volume 2, Issue 3
If you served in the military no matter what branch of service you were in, you learned at some point the importance of having space to maneuver. Whether you were maneuvering pairs of boots, a tank, a ship, or a fighter jet, having adequate physical space was essential to executing maneuver smoothly and safely. Likewise, when we encounter challenges in life, our minds need maneuver space to mentally negotiate difficult moments. This series will highlight each month a different brief cognitive tool that you can use in your daily life to potentially create more maneuver space. Remember having maneuver space, or space to think, is a gift in life. Once you create it, use it to your advantage!
Dialectics as a World View
The military often uses assumptions. An assumption provides commanders and staffs a supposition about the current situation or future course of events. Assumptions address gaps in knowledge and must be necessary and valid. Assumptions are used in military planning as information presumed to be accepted as true in the absence of facts.[1] In life, our mind often struggles with assumptions as beliefs that cannot be proven. These assumptions can sometimes create vulnerability, invalidation, and dysfunctional emotional regulation which frequently leads to pain and suffering. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a type of cognitive behavioral therapy that deals heavily in assumptions. DBT argues that thru a philosophical framework called dialectics, we can learn to block, or extinguish, ineffective and destructive behaviors and ultimately learn and reinforce more effective behaviors. If we can embrace assumptions, we can achieve the goal of reducing suffering and creating a life worth living.
What are Dialectics?
Dialectics are framed in a philosophical world view that assumes three main principles:[2]
- Principle of Interrelatedness and Wholeness
- Much of life if governed and influenced in bi-directional transactions between individuals or individuals and the environment.
- Everything in life is interconnected.
- Principle of Continuous Change
- Reality is constantly changing in life.
- Change is the only thing that is truly constant.
- Principle of Polarity
- Opposing forces are part of reality.
- There is always more than one way to see something.
- Things can be both true and false at the same time.
- With dysfunction, there is function. Within distortion, there is accuracy. Within destruction, there is construction.
Thru dialectics, DBT acknowledges there is ultimately an art to investigating or discussing the multiple truths present in the options we are often presented in life. These can sometimes be full of contradictions, opposing forces, opposites, and paradoxes. DBT sees change and acceptance as the point of balance between these dialectic principals.
Sometimes in life we embrace change, other times we embrace acceptance of things we cannot change. DBT identifies four skill areas, two for acceptance and two for change, along with a variety of worksheets and handouts that an individual can practice daily in life to further find balance.
Acceptance Skills
- Mindfulness: Used to decrease identity confusion, feelings of emptiness, and emotion dysregulation
- Distress Tolerance: Used to decrease impulsivity, threats towards others, and self-injury.
Change Skills
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: Used to decrease interpersonal chaos and feelings of abandonment. These skills are often used to set effective boundaries in life.
- Emotion Regulation: Used to effectively cope with anger, fear, shame, and sadness.[3]
Confronting Dialectical Dilemmas in Life
Dialectics stress that we live in a world of dysregulation and that everything around us is filled with opposites. However, rather than seeing these as contradictory frictions, they can be viewed alternatively as both true at the same time.[4] DBT worksheets can easily be found online, and these simple skills can help individuals embrace and be comfortable with assumptions by practicing daily acceptance and change skills. Just like in military planning, when we accept assumptions in life as true in the absence of facts, we create space in our mind to maneuver and groundwork for life worth living.
About the Author: Mr. Bongioanni is a licensed mental health counselor who alsoworks for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He is also a senior leader in the U.S. Army Reserve. His professional interests include human behavior, applied psychology, and military cultural competence. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
[1] Department of the Army. (2022). Field Manual 5-0, Planning and Orders Production. (1-22, 1-23, 3-4) https://armypubs.army.mil/epubs/DR_pubs/DR_a/ARN36775-FM_5-0-001-WEB-3.pdf
[2] Linehan, M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual, Second Edition. New York: Guilford Press; 12-13.
[3] Adapted from: ‘Dialectical Behavioral-Whole Person-Therapy Training Manual’, The Wellness Effect Holistic Education Services, January 2024, Version 1, 18.
[4] The Wellness Effect Holistic Education Services, DB-WP-T PowerPoint Slides, Conducted in January 2024, 26-31.
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