Bibliotherapy Body Doubling

Some skills are easier to learn with someone sitting beside you. That is the idea behind body doubling: doing a task in the steady company of another person, so starting feels lighter and staying with it feels possible. Bibliotherapy, using a well-chosen book as part of therapy, works the same way. Put the two together and you get one of my favorite ways to work: a DBT workbook we share, side by side, one chapter at a time.

What it looks like

We work through one workbook together, a chapter at a time. Each chapter follows the same rhythm:

1. Look through the library. Browse the DBT Special Topics shelf in the BridgePath Library and choose the workbook that fits what you most want help with.
2. Buy your own copy. Each book on the shelf links to where you can buy it.
3. Read a chapter as homework. You read it between sessions, at your own pace.
4. I present the chapter. In our next session, I walk through the chapter with my own teaching slides and add details, examples and the parts of DBT the book only touches on.
5. You ask questions. Anything that was unclear, we clarify together.
6. We talk it through. What fits your life, what doesn't, and what you noticed while you were reading.
7. We plan how you will use the skill. We look at where and when the skill could help in your week.
8. The next chapter becomes your homework. Then we start the rhythm again.

One topic at a time

DBT has four big skill areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Many workbooks now apply those skills to one specific struggle. That focus can make the skills feel written for you. There are workbooks for anger, anxiety, shame and depression; for trauma, PTSD and Complex PTSD; for adult ADHD and neurodivergence; for difficult family relationships; for emotional eating; and for building self-compassion.

You can browse the full shelf, with covers and descriptions, on the DBT Special Topics shelf in the BridgePath Library. Each book on the shelf has a link to where you can buy it. Take your time looking. If one stands out, that is often a good place to start.

Browse the DBT Special Topics shelf →

What I bring to it

I have been practicing and teaching DBT for eleven years, including in an intensive DBT program before private practice. My chapter presentations draw on that experience, so each session goes beyond the page. The workbook gives us a shared map; the session is where you try the skills on for real.

Practical details

• Your own copy: you buy your own copy of the workbook, using the buying links on the DBT Special Topics shelf. You will write in it, mark it up and keep it, and buying your own copy respects the authors' work.
• Part of your therapy: this happens within your therapy sessions, and we connect the workbook to your treatment goals so it serves the work we are already doing.
• Your pace: some chapters take one session; some take three. Skipping ahead, slowing down or switching books are all fine.
• Group option, coming soon: I am also planning a DBT Special Topics group, where we work through a book side by side, body-doubling style. No one is asked to share anything personal. Dates and fees will be announced; email me if you would like to be added to the list.

If you are a current client, bring it up at your next session, or email me with the title that caught your eye. If you are new to BridgePath and this way of working appeals to you, email me to ask about getting started. You don't need to explain why in the email; a subject line like "Bibliotherapy" is enough.