Posts by Marielle Berg

Today, we take a deep dive into working with judgments.  Judgments about ourselves and others can increase emotional suffering and negatively impact relationships. Judgments are often assumptions, interpretations, or myths that we add to the facts. We then tend to mistake our judgments for facts.  This episode explores how to notice all of the subtle…

The Distress Tolerance skills in DBT offer creative ways to get through challenging situations without making things worse.  In Part 2 of this overview of Distress Tolerance skills, we focus on acceptance skills. Both acceptance and change skills can help lower emotional distress so you can access your most wise, grounded self. Radical Acceptance, as…

The Distress Tolerance skills in DBT offer creative ways to get through challenging situations without making things worse. Today’s episode is Part 1 of an overview of Distress Tolerance as a whole, with a special focus on change-oriented skills. When emotional distress is high, there can be an intense desire to do something to make…

Do you find asking for things or saying no hard? If so, this episode is for you.  Marielle and Ed provide a framework for thinking about how strongly to make requests and how strongly to say no. For some people, making requests confidently is challenging and for others, it’s saying no that is hard. Sometimes…

Today’s episode is a response to a listener question about procrastinating making progress towards life goals. Marielle and Ed explore the emotions that underlie urges to put off doing what needs to get done. For some people, procrastination is a habitual response, no matter what the task. For other people, procrastination is a response to…

Today, Marielle interviews Greg Bodin, MFT, a therapist in the San Francisco Bay Area who practices Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT.  Greg specializes in anxiety, trauma, men’s sex issues, and is also a certified EMDR therapist.  ACT and DBT have a lot in common. One of the core tenets of ACT is learning to…

Today, Marielle and Ed discuss the D in DBT: Dialectics. Dialectics helps us remember that two seemingly opposing forces can both be true, change is the only constant, and that we are all connected.  When emotions are heightened, either/or thinking can get us stuck and limit our ability to think and creatively problem solve. Dialectics…

This episode is in response to a listener question about combining DBT skill use for difficult situations. We thought it was a great question to tackle in an episode. As your knowledge of DBT skills increases, you will likely find that using several different skills is often the most effective way to respond to challenging…

In this episode of The Skillful Podcast, we answer two listener questions. The first question is from a listener who wants advice about balancing conflicting values to build a life worth living. The second question is about how to maintain your DBT skills practice once treatment has ended. Marielle and Ed discuss the issues these…

As we pass the year mark of pandemic life, many of us are exhausted and eager to get back to how things used to be. While there are positive developments with vaccination rates rising and case counts lowering in some parts of the world, the finish line is still far away. We need emotional stamina…