The DBT emotion model
If you want to understand emotions as a system of triggers, body, evaluation, impulse and action.
Organize emotions as a coherent sequence of triggers, evaluation, body reaction, impulse and behavior so that regulation can start at several points.
When does this fit?
If, before actually choosing a skill, a model is needed that breaks down emotional reactions into their components and points of intervention.
Priority in the path
This node fits early in the path when fear or panic or strong emotional activation are in the foreground.
What this is about
The DBT Model for Describing Emotions provides a systematic framework for understanding the components of an emotional response and where within the system intervention is possible. The model maps the sequence: vulnerability factors create the context; a prompting event triggers the emotion; interpretations and secondary emotions develop; biological changes occur in the body; action urges arise; and behavioral and verbal expressions follow.
Because emotions are full-system responses, changing any component can shift the entire emotional experience. This model is taught before the regulation skills because understanding the structure of an emotion is necessary for choosing where to intervene.
Related exercise
Explore and apply
These nodes lead from the conceptual frame of reference into the first concrete application or deepening.
Mindfulness of Current Emotions
Shared topic
When a current emotion needs to be held through mindfully instead of immediately avoiding it or pushing it away.
Also in: Distress Tolerance · Mindfulness
Opposite Action
Shared topic
When the emotional impulse takes you deeper into the problem instead of out.
Also in: Distress Tolerance
Check the Facts
Shared topic
When it is unclear whether feelings and assumptions really match the facts.
Also in: Mindfulness
PLEASE Skills
Shared topic
When basic physical care must first be stabilized so that emotional vulnerability decreases.
Also in: Distress Tolerance · Mindfulness
Emotional Dysregulation
Shared topic
When you first have to classify the core problem behind intense or difficult-to-control emotions.
Also in: Mindfulness · Distress Tolerance · Emotion Regulation
Model of Emotions vs. Functions of Emotions
Helps distinguish whether the first step is to understand how an emotion is structured or what biological and social functions it serves.
Sources and references
Show where this node comes from and how source-near or practice-near it is.