The Actor and DBT: An Unexpected Guide

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Hi Actor,

I am constantly in awe by what life can teach me. Often the best acting lessons don't come from a teacher, class, acting method, film or interview. Today's discovery & topic of conversation is DBT. For those of you who don't know what Dialectic Behaviour Therapy is, it's a therapy developed and published by Dr Marsha Linehan in the 1980's to help treat those suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder. The therapy is used more generally now and is found to be helpful for almost anyone struggling with their mental health.

Having worked in mental health myself, I have had the pleasure of facilitating DBT through an abridged program. By looking at the structure of DBT and it's approach, I can see a huge parallel with Acting skill development.

Below are a few of my biggest take aways from DBT relevant for the actor:

• Life is full of Dialectic Opposites: Reality is often somewhere in between.

• The importance of having a structured approach to an overarching goal

• The importance of a reflective practice.

• Ideally mindfulness underpins everything we do.

• Emotional Regulation

• We have the ability through daily practice to change unhelpful behaviour to helpful behaviour.

• Daily practice effectively changes the way we behave.

• Radical Acceptance.

• Building Mastery.

• Accumulating Positive Events.

• Distress Tolerance.

• Interpersonal Effectivness.

I'd love to hear from you. Have you discovered any "indirect" acting lessons that changed the way you work? Lessons that on the surface seemed unrelated but after further investigation they illuminated something huge for your craft. Feel free to leave a comment below or reach out directly.

Talk soon.

Lachy

Lachlan is an Australian Actor who has been working within the industry nearing a decade. He’s worked in Film & Theatre.

© Lachlan Stuart 2025