Living Through Distress Programme

Living Through Distress (LTD) is a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) informed, group-based intervention. The programme aims to teach emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness and interpersonal effectiveness skills for individuals with problems of emotion under-control, who frequently present with self-harmful behaviours. For those participants with pre- and post- data, significant advancements were observed in enhanced mindfulness, improved distress tolerance, and increased emotion regulation.

The three outcome measures for this programme are the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (which assesses emotion dysregulation), the Distress Tolerance Scale (measuring levels of distress and readiness to tolerate distress), and the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale (measuring the willingness and ability to be mindful, particularly related to psychological distress). Pre- and post- results for all three of these scales showed significant improvements in 2018.

Graph: Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale Total Scores

Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale: Pre-Intervention

Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale: Post-Intervention

Distress Tolerance Scale Total Scores

Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale Total Scores