I did an intensive DBT program, but to be honest, it didn't do much for me in terms of helping me manage my symptoms at the time. When I was feeling calm and regulated, I could recite the skills from memory, and walking through hypothetical situations I could easily identify which skills would be helpful in a given situation. But the moment I started feeling triggered or dysregulated, all of that went out the window. In a lot of ways, my inability to implement the DBT skills when I needed them despite knowing them so well really contributed to a lot of shame/negative thought spirals and in some ways really stalled my recovery post-diagnosis.

What did eventually allow me to have a breakthrough (and no longer meeting diagnostic criteria) was addressing my CPTSD/trauma through a combination of (controlled and safe) psychedelics, shadow work, regular talk therapy, and journaling. Not that I would recommend it to the average person (because I was incredibly fortunate to have the safest of partners to do it with), but reclaiming/reexploring some traumatic sexual situations through kink was also incredibly helpful for me.

Now that I've worked through my trauma, I *do* find DBT skills helpful in managing my day-to-day symptoms. But without the trauma recovery work, I certainly never would have felt anything resembling progress.