Men Have Called Her Crazy

Content Warning: This section of the guide discusses mental illness, gender discrimination, and emotional abuse.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, is an evidence-based approach to psychotherapy that is used primarily to treat personality disorders and interpersonal conflicts. DBT rose to prominence after providers realized that Cognitive Behavior Therapy, or CBT, failed to help patients with repeated suicidal ideation. According to evidence, DBT can help people who live with mood disorders, suicidal ideation, self-harm, and substance abuse disorders. Dr. Marsha Linehan, a researcher at the University of Washington, invented DBT with the belief that to live fulfilled lives, people must learn to accept things the way they are while also realizing change is necessary for growth and happiness. DBT has four modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Tendler participates in DBT before and after her time in inpatient care. She finds DBT helpful after her time in Dalby. Upon reflection on her time in DBT, she writes, “Through DBT I gradually learned how to substitute constructive behaviors for destructive ones. I noticed that even in my most emotional moments, taking photographs never failed to intercept my worst thoughts and change my brain’s direction” (232). Tendler takes the tools she gained from DBT to help divert her negative thoughts and feelings and turn them into art, like “rooms in the first house” and Men Have Called Her Crazy.