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A 22-year-old woman with borderline personality disorder in DBT individual therapy reports cutting herself after an argument with her roommate. Her therapist asks her to walk through the episode step by step: the vulnerability factors that day (skipped meals, poor sleep), the prompting event (the argument), the sequence of thoughts, emotions, and urges that followed, the self-harm behavior itself, and its consequences. What DBT technique is the therapist using?
Explanation
Chain analysis is the primary assessment and case-conceptualization tool in DBT individual therapy. When a target behavior occurs (self-harm, substance use, therapy-interfering behavior), the therapist maps the full sequence: vulnerability factors, prompting event, each link in the chain (thoughts, emotions, urges, actions), the target behavior, and its consequences. This then guides solution analysis. Identifying where specific DBT skills could interrupt the chain in the future.
Key Takeaway
DBT chain analysis maps the complete sequence from vulnerability factors through prompting event, cognitive-emotional-behavioral links, target behavior, and consequences to identify where skills could have interrupted the chain.