DBT skills for anxiety

DBT offers practical skills for anxiety that target both the physical symptoms and the anxious thinking that fuels them. While DBT was created for borderline personality disorder, its skills are widely used to manage anxiety. Here are the ones that help most.

Calm the body

Anxiety lives in the body first. The distress tolerance skills — especially TIPP and paced breathing — bring physical arousal down quickly when anxiety spikes. Front Range Treatment Center has a detailed walkthrough of TIPP for panic and anxiety.

Unhook from anxious thoughts

Mindfulness teaches you to observe anxious thoughts as passing events rather than facts to act on — reducing the spiral of worry about the past and future.

Approach instead of avoid

Anxiety shrinks your world by pushing you to avoid. From emotion regulation, checking the facts tests whether the fear fits reality, and opposite action helps you approach feared situations gradually — the opposite of what anxiety urges.

Reduce baseline vulnerability

The PLEASE skills — sleep, eating, exercise, avoiding substances — lower how vulnerable you are to anxiety in the first place.

Learn these skills in a live class

Our Introduction to DBT Skills course teaches all of these live over Zoom. Browse the full DBT skills list, explore more DBT coping skills, or start with what DBT skills are.

DBT skills classes are educational, not therapy. If anxiety is significantly affecting your life, consider working with a licensed therapist. In crisis? Call or text 988.

Common questions

Which DBT skills help with anxiety?

For anxiety, the most useful DBT skills are TIPP and paced breathing (to calm the body), mindfulness (to unhook from anxious thoughts), checking the facts and opposite action (to approach rather than avoid), and the PLEASE skills (to reduce baseline vulnerability).

Can DBT help with anxiety even though it was made for BPD?

Yes. DBT was originally developed for borderline personality disorder, but its skills are widely used for anxiety. Mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation all directly target the physical and cognitive patterns that drive anxiety.

Is a DBT skills class a substitute for anxiety treatment?

No. A DBT skills class is educational and can be an excellent complement to therapy, but it is not therapy or treatment. If anxiety is significantly affecting your life, consider working with a licensed therapist alongside learning skills.