WALKING THE MIDDLE PATH

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WALKING THE MIDDLE PATH THE BIOSOCIAL THEORY
The Child, Adolescent Family Recovery Center
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Walking the Middle Path

• ACCEPTANCE AND CHANGE

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Walking the Middle Path

• HOW DO WE WALK THE MIDDLE PATH??
• DIALECTICS
• VALIDATION
• BEHAVIORISM

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DialecticsWhat does it mean?

• WHAT DOES DIALECTICS MEAN??
• HOW DO WE THINK AND ACT DIALECTICALLY??
• Multiple points of view
• Examples Multiple ways to solve a problem
• Both/And thinking
• Examples Avoid my way or the highway or all
  or nothing thinking
• Change is constant

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DialecticsDialectical Dilemmas

• 
  

Forcing Autonomy
Normalizing Pathological Behavior
Excessive Leniency
Pathologizing Normal Behavior
Authoritarian Control
Foster Dependence
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ValidationLevels of Validation

• Level Four
• Validate the persons behavior in terms of causes
  (like past events)
• Validate feelings. I.e. since your new boss
  reminds you of your past boss, I can understand
  that you would feel fearful of meeting with her.
• Level Five
• Communicate the persons behavior is reasonable,
  meaningful, and effective.
• Level Six
• Treat the person as a valid human being- not
  patronizing or condescending.
• Recognize a person as they are- with strengths
  and limitations.
• Be genuine! And Believe in that person, while
  seeing their pain.

• Level One
• Overall showing interest in the other person
  (verbal and non-verbal cues)
• Level Two
• Reflective Listening. Summarizing what the other
  person has said.
• Take a non-judgmental stance
• Level Three
• Try to read a persons behaviors, imagine what
  they could be feeling, thinking, or wishing for.
  Walking in their shoes. Check for accuracy.

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ValidationValidate Self

• WHAT DOES VALIDATE MEAN??
• COMFORT YOURSELF BY...
• OBSERVE AND DESCRIBE CURRENT EMOTIONS
• ACKNOWLEDGE EMOTIONS AS REAL NO MATTER WHAT THE
  EMOTION OR SITUATION
• YOU ARE THE EXPERT ON YOU!
• DONT EXPECT OTHERS TO KNOW HOW YOU FEEL work
  to communicate feelings to others and deal with
  feelings in a more productive way

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ValidationValidating Others

• OBSERVE THE EXPERIENCE NON JUDGEMENTALLY AND
  WITH ACKNOWLEDGMENT
• DESCRIBE THE BEHAVIOR YOU SEE WITH FACTS
• VALIDATION DOES NOT MEAN AGREEMENT OR APPROVAL
• VALIDATION TELLING SOMEONE YOU GET IT
• LEVELS OF VALIDATION

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ValidationAn invalidating environment is one
that

• Pervasively
• negates,
• punishes,
• corrects,
• ignores or
• dismisses behavior
• whether it is valid behavior or not.

- Indiscriminately rejects communication of
private experiences and self-initiated
behaviors - Intermittently reinforces escalation
of emotional responses and displays - Instead,
the environment teaches individuals to actively
self-invalidate and search social environment for
cues about how to respond.
Behavioraltech.org
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Validation An invalidating environment teaches
adolescents to

• 1. Invalidate themselves and look to their
  social environment for cues on how to respond
  because their environment unknowingly rejects
  communication of private experiences and
  uncomfortable behaviors.
• 2. Oscillate between emotional inhibition and
  extreme emotional styles due to the environment
  punishing emotional displays and unintentionally
  reinforcing emotional escalation.
• 3. Form unrealistic goals and expectations as
  the environment over-simplifies the ease of
  problem-solving and meeting goals.

Behavioraltech.org
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Behaviorism

• PROMOTING CHANGE IN BEHAVIORS
• REINFORCEMENT
• SHAPING
• EXTINCITION OF MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIORS
• INCREASING HEALTHY AND EFFECTIVE USE OF DBT
  COPING STRATEGIES

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Behaviorism

• The Child, Adolescent and Family Development
  Center would recommend reading Dont Shoot the
  Dog! The New Art of Teaching and Training, by
  Karen Pryor.

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Behaviorism (Adapted from Dont Shoot the Dog)

• Reinforcement
• Shaping
• Untraining- Using reinforcement to get rid of
  behaviors you do not want
• Eliminate the object/person
• Punishment
• Negative Reinforcement
• Extinction
• Train an incompatible behavior
• Put the behavior on cue
• Shape the Absence
• Change the motivation

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• BIOSOCIAL THEORY
• WHERE DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOR
• THERAPY COMES FROM

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Biosocial Theory

• Biological dysfunction in the emotion regulation
  system
• an Invalidating environment
• Pervasive Emotion Dysregulation

Pervasive Emotional Dysregulation Emotional
Vulnerability Inability to Modulate Emotions
Behavioraltech.org
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Biological Dysfunction in the emotion regulation
system of adolescents

• Problem Areas Skills
• 1. Confusion about self 1. Mindfulness
• 2. Impulsivity 2. Distress Tolerance
• 3. Emotional Instability 3. Emotion Regulation
• 4. Interpersonal Problems 4. Interpersonal
  Effectiveness
• 5. Adolescent-Family 5. Walking the Middle
  Path
• Dilemmas

Behavioraltech.org
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What do we mean by Emotional Vulnerability?

• High Sensitivity
• Immediate reactions
• Low threshold for emotional reaction
• High Reactivity
• Extreme reactions
• High arousal dysregulates cognitive processing
• Slow return to baseline
• Long-lasting reactions
• Contributes to high sensitivity to next
  emotional stimulus

Behavioraltech.org
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So what do we mean by Inability to Modulate
Emotions?

• Difficulty managing inappropriate behaviors
  related to strong emotions
• Difficulty acting in a way that is not mood
  dependant
• Difficulty self-soothing
• Difficulty refocusing attention in the presence
  of a strong emotion

Behavioraltech.org
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What is Biosocial Theory?

• Biological Dysfunction in the emotion regulation
  system
• an Invalidating environment
• Pervasive Emotion Dysregulation

Behavioraltech.org