Nervous System & Attachment | Pattern Awareness

24 hours. One global DBT community. Very full hearts—and a few tired brains.
I joined the overnight World DBT Summit from Therapy Lounge Collective (TLC) in Leicester, surrounded by wonderful colleagues and friends. Learning, laughter and some welcome sofa time. DBT and chill? Quite literally.
Hearing Geraldine “Geri” Rodriguez, Marsha Linehan’s daughter, brought me back to the purpose: helping people find a way through emotional suffering and towards a life worth living.
Developed by Marsha Linehan, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy brings acceptance AND change together. Not choosing one over the other, but making room for both:
I can accept that my feelings make sense AND practise responding without acting on every urge.
I can understand why a coping pattern developed AND learn a different response when it no longer helps me.
I can care about someone AND say no to behaviour that hurts me.
I can acknowledge what I cannot change AND take one small step towards what I can influence.
I can be doing the best I can AND need new skills and support.
Acceptance isn’t approval of everything that happens. It means recognising what is here, so we can choose our next step.
Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and relationship skills make this practical. For me, mindfulness also felt like reconnecting with a deeper, wiser sense of self—not escaping my feelings, but noticing them with more compassion.
Hearing about South American and Spanish-speaking DBT communities reminded me how much becomes possible when therapists work together to widen access. A world tribe with a shared purpose.
Jenny and Rima, thank you for a TLC space that felt safe, welcoming and full of possibility @therapyloungecollective 🤍
I left tired AND inspired. Proud of this therapy, this community and the hope we can build together.
Which acceptance-and-change “AND” do you need today?
#WorldDBTSummit #DBT #DialecticalBehaviourTherapy #Mindfulness #therapyloungecollective