When Emotions Drive the Behaviour
For many people in addiction, the substance or behaviour is not the core problem — it is the solution to an emotional problem. Intense feelings, an inability to tolerate distress, and a lack of tools for managing emotional states create a pattern where the addiction fills a gap that nothing else has filled.
DBT was developed to address exactly this. It builds four core skill sets — mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness — that give people genuinely better options when difficult feelings arise. At Holina, DBT is not delivered as a standalone therapy. It is integrated throughout the residential programme, reinforced daily in individual sessions, group work, and community life.
Start a Confidential ConversationWhat DBT Builds
DBT works across four interconnected skill areas — each one directly relevant to addiction and emotional health recovery:
- ✓Mindfulness — learning to observe thoughts and feelings without being controlled by them
- ✓Distress Tolerance — surviving difficult moments without making them worse
- ✓Emotional Regulation — understanding and changing intense emotional responses
- ✓Interpersonal Effectiveness — maintaining relationships and self-respect under pressure
Together these skills reduce the emotional volatility that drives relapse, self-harm, relationship breakdown, and the return to addictive behaviour under stress.
Particularly Effective For
DBT is integrated into all care plans, but is especially central for residents experiencing:
- ✓Intense or rapidly shifting emotions
- ✓Impulsive behaviour driven by emotional overwhelm
- ✓Self-harm or self-destructive patterns
- ✓Co-occurring anxiety and emotional dysregulation
- ✓Trauma responses that create emotional flooding
- ✓Difficulty tolerating distress without turning to a substance
- ✓Relationship instability and interpersonal conflict
- ✓Depression with significant emotional reactivity
How DBT Is Applied at Holina
DBT at Holina is not a weekly session — it is a framework woven into daily residential life.
🧠 Individual Sessions
Your assigned therapist integrates DBT skill building into individual sessions, tailored to your specific emotional patterns and recovery needs.
👪 DBT Skills Groups
Group sessions where residents learn and practise the four DBT skill modules together — reinforcing learning through shared experience.
🌟 Daily Practice
DBT skills are practised in real time throughout community life — in structured activities, mealtimes, and peer interaction. Recovery is lived, not just discussed.
🧠 CBT Integration
DBT and CBT complement each other — CBT addresses the thought patterns, DBT builds the emotional skills to act on new awareness when it matters most.
🌟 Trauma-Informed
For residents where trauma underlies emotional dysregulation, DBT is delivered alongside EMDR and trauma-focused therapy — not in isolation from it.
📋 Relapse Prevention
DBT-based distress tolerance and urge-surfing skills are a core part of aftercare planning — giving residents practical tools for high-risk moments after discharge.
A Residential Environment Where Skills Become Habits
DBT skills are only useful if they become second nature — practised under pressure until they are automatic. A residential programme is uniquely suited to this. At Holina Village, the structured daily schedule, peer community, and 24-hour clinical support create the conditions to practise DBT skills continually, not just in a therapy room.
Our setting in Achnas, Cyprus — a calm, contained farm environment — provides genuine distance from the triggers of everyday life. That distance, combined with consistent therapeutic input, allows the emotional regulation work to go deeper and stick longer.
About Our Dual Treatment ApproachHow to Get Started
We make the first steps as easy as possible. No pressure. No obligation. Just an honest conversation.
Confidential Enquiry
Call or send a message. Our team responds quickly and discreetly. No commitment at this stage.
Clinical Assessment
We review your situation to confirm fit and build a personalised programme — with DBT central where it's most needed.
Arrival in Cyprus
We meet you at Larnaca Airport. From the first moment you arrive, the team is with you.
Treatment & Aftercare
A structured residential programme with weekly family updates and a personalised aftercare plan.
Speak With Our Admissions Team
If emotional intensity has been central to the challenges you or someone you care about is facing, DBT within our residential programme may be exactly what is needed. No obligation. Completely confidential.