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OWL Studio · standalone DBT skills library

Explore the full DBT skills map.

Move through the four core modules and the foundations beneath them. Every skill opens into an introduction, everyday example, guidance on when to use it and a small practice.

Browse all 46 skills and frameworks ↓
AcceptanceMindfulnessDistress Tolerance
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ChangeEmotion RegulationInterpersonal Effectiveness

Both are needed.

The organising idea

Acceptance and change work together.

Mindfulness and Distress Tolerance lean toward acceptance. Emotion Regulation and Interpersonal Effectiveness lean toward change. Foundations help you understand what happened and select skills deliberately.

Start with the moment

What do you need a skill to do?

These are shortcuts into the full catalogue. They do not replace a safety plan or clinical recommendation.

From learning to action

Connect a DBT module with a practical hub.

Choose the module you are using, then open a focused tool for the situation in front of you.

Track intensityMood & Anxiety Action Check-In

Match anxiety and low-mood levels with a concrete behavioural path.

Open practical hub →Read body cuesBody Sensation Map

Locate and describe a sensation before deciding what it means.

Open practical hub →Return to nowMindfulness Centre

Choose a short grounding, noticing, movement or everyday-mindfulness practice.

Open practical hub →Observe the bodyBody Sensation Map

Practise describing location, quality and intensity without judgement.

Open practical hub →Pause an urgeUrge Surfing

Use a guided two, five or fifteen-minute pause before acting.

Open practical hub →Lower the alarmPanic & Body Alarm

Check safety and respond to a familiar panic wave or frightening sensation.

Open practical hub →Name and expressEmotion Wheel

Connect an emotion with body signals, action urge and healthy expression.

Open practical hub →Build momentumBehavioural Activation

Choose one achievable activity when low energy or avoidance is in the way.

Open practical hub →Ask or set a limitAssertive Communication

Build a clear request, refusal, boundary, response or repair script.

Open practical hub →Find a middle pathInterpersonal Effectiveness

Hold both perspectives and build a workable, values-aligned solution.

Open practical hub →

Complete catalogue

Every skill in one searchable place.

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46 results

00
Foundations & behaviour change

Both acceptance and change

5 skills
01

Foundations & behaviour change · Both–and

Dialectical thinking

Hold two apparently opposite truths and look for a workable synthesis instead of forcing an all-or-nothing answer.
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02

Foundations & behaviour change

Validation

Communicate that an experience makes sense in its context without necessarily agreeing with every conclusion or behaviour.
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03

Foundations & behaviour change

Behaviour chain analysis

Map the links that led from vulnerability and prompting event to thoughts, feelings, urges, actions and consequences.
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04

Foundations & behaviour change

Solution analysis

Choose specific skills for the points in a behaviour chain where a different response could reduce risk or improve the outcome.
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05

Foundations & behaviour change

Diary card and skills tracking

Record urges, target behaviours, emotions and skill use briefly enough to reveal patterns across days.
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01
Mindfulness

Acceptance-oriented

7 skills
06

Mindfulness

Wise Mind

Integrate emotional knowing and reasonable thinking into a grounded sense of what is effective now.
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07

Mindfulness · What skill

Observe

Notice sensations, thoughts, feelings and events without immediately pushing away, holding on or acting.
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08

Mindfulness · What skill

Describe

Put factual words on what you observe while separating events from interpretations and assumptions.
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09

Mindfulness · What skill

Participate

Enter fully into the activity of the moment rather than standing outside it in self-conscious evaluation.
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10

Mindfulness · How skill

Nonjudgmental stance

Describe what is happening and its consequences without adding labels of good, bad, worthless or unfair as if they were facts.
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11

Mindfulness · How skill

One-mindfully

Do one thing at a time with attention in the present task rather than splitting attention across past, future and multiple activities.
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12

Mindfulness · How skill

Effectively

Focus on what works for your goals and the real situation rather than proving a point, being right or following rigid rules.
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02
Distress Tolerance

Acceptance-oriented

11 skills
13

Distress Tolerance · Crisis survival

STOP

Interrupt impulsive action: stop, step back, observe and proceed mindfully.
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14

Distress Tolerance · Crisis survival

Pros and Cons

Compare the short- and long-term consequences of acting on a crisis urge versus using skills.
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15

Distress Tolerance · Body-based crisis skill

TIP

Use temperature, brief intense movement and paced breathing or paired muscle relaxation to reduce extreme physiological arousal.
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16

Distress Tolerance · Crisis survival

Wise Mind ACCEPTS

Use safe temporary distraction through activities, contribution, comparison, different emotions, pushing away briefly, thoughts or sensations.
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17

Distress Tolerance · Crisis survival

Self-soothe through the senses

Use sight, sound, smell, taste, touch and body awareness to offer the nervous system safe, compassionate sensory input.
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18

Distress Tolerance · Crisis survival

IMPROVE the Moment

Shift the quality of a painful moment using imagery, meaning, reflection or prayer, relaxation, one thing, a brief vacation or encouragement.
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19

Distress Tolerance · Reality acceptance

Radical Acceptance

Acknowledge reality as it is in this moment, with mind and body, so energy is no longer spent fighting facts that have already occurred.
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20

Distress Tolerance · Reality acceptance

Turning the Mind

Notice rejection of reality and repeatedly turn back toward acceptance, as often as the mind turns away.
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21

Distress Tolerance · Reality acceptance

Willingness over wilfulness

Do what the situation calls for wholeheartedly, replacing refusal, control battles or giving up with effective participation.
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22

Distress Tolerance · Reality acceptance

Half-smile and Willing Hands

Use a small relaxed facial expression and open hands to practise a bodily posture of willingness rather than resistance.
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23

Distress Tolerance · Reality acceptance

Mindfulness of Current Thoughts

Notice thoughts as passing mental events rather than facts, commands or permanent parts of identity.
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03
Emotion Regulation

Change-oriented

13 skills
24

Emotion Regulation

Understand the emotion model

See emotion as a whole sequence involving prompts, interpretations, body changes, expression, action urges and after-effects.
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25

Emotion Regulation

Observe and describe emotions

Name the emotion and its components accurately without becoming the emotion or judging yourself for having it.
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26

Emotion Regulation

Understand what emotions do

Recognise that emotions communicate, motivate action and signal information while still requiring a facts-and-effectiveness check.
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27

Emotion Regulation

Check the Facts

Compare the emotion-driving interpretation with observable facts, alternatives and the actual probability or scale of threat.
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28

Emotion Regulation

Opposite Action

When an emotion or its intensity does not fit the facts—or acting on it is ineffective—act fully opposite to its unhelpful urge.
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29

Emotion Regulation

Problem Solving

When emotion fits a real, changeable problem, define it, generate options, choose a solution, act and evaluate.
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30

Emotion Regulation · ABC PLEASE

Accumulate positive experiences now

Deliberately include small pleasant, meaningful or connecting experiences in the short term instead of waiting for them to happen.
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31

Emotion Regulation · Values and priorities

Build positive experiences long term

Identify values, choose one priority and take repeated small actions that build a life with more meaning over time.
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32

Emotion Regulation · ABC PLEASE

Build Mastery

Do something that creates competence, progress or accomplishment, gradually increasing the challenge.
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33

Emotion Regulation · ABC PLEASE

Cope Ahead

Rehearse a likely difficult situation and the exact skills you will use so the response is more available under stress.
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34

Emotion Regulation · Reduce vulnerability

PLEASE

Attend to physical illness, balanced eating, mood-altering substances, sleep and appropriate exercise to reduce biological vulnerability.
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35

Emotion Regulation

Mindfulness of Current Emotion

Experience the emotion as a changing body-and-mind event without suppressing it, feeding it or acting automatically on its urge.
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36

Emotion Regulation · Troubleshooting

Manage extreme emotions

Use a pre-agreed sequence when arousal is too high for ordinary emotion-change skills: safety, crisis survival, support, then review.
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04
Interpersonal Effectiveness

Change-oriented

10 skills
37

Interpersonal Effectiveness

Clarify interpersonal priorities

Decide the relative priority of your objective, the relationship and self-respect before choosing how to communicate.
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38

Interpersonal Effectiveness · Get an objective

DEAR MAN

Describe, express, assert and reinforce; stay mindful, appear confident and negotiate to make a clear request or refusal.
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39

Interpersonal Effectiveness · Keep the relationship

GIVE

Be gentle, interested, validating and use an easy manner when the relationship is an important priority.
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40

Interpersonal Effectiveness · Keep self-respect

FAST

Be fair, avoid unnecessary apologies, stick to values and be truthful when self-respect is the priority.
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41

Interpersonal Effectiveness · How strongly?

Choose request or refusal intensity

Match how firmly you ask or say no to priorities, capability, authority, relationship, rights, timing and reciprocity.
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42

Interpersonal Effectiveness

Identify what blocks effectiveness

Check whether missing skills, worry thoughts, emotion, indecision, environment or myths about relationships are interfering.
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43

Interpersonal Effectiveness

Mindfulness of others

Attend to the person in front of you with curiosity, returning from assumptions, self-monitoring and divided attention.
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44

Interpersonal Effectiveness

Find and build relationships

Increase opportunities for contact, approach gradually, show interest and allow repeated ordinary interactions to build familiarity.
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45

Interpersonal Effectiveness

Attend to and repair relationships

Notice problems early, make time, communicate directly, reinforce helpful behaviour and repair ruptures before resentment accumulates.
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46

Interpersonal Effectiveness

End destructive relationships

Recognise when a relationship repeatedly violates safety, values or wellbeing and plan an effective ending or distance.
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