BridgePath Counseling Crisis help
Mindfulness at BridgePath

Mindfulness, the DBT way

Create a life worth living

In Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness is the core skill. Every other DBT skill (handling distress, working with emotions, asking for what you need) depends on being able to notice what is happening right now, without being swept away by it. Mindfulness here isn't about emptying your mind or feeling calm on demand. It is practice in paying attention, on purpose, and coming back when your attention wanders.

The skills The mindfulness group Walk the labyrinth
The foundation

Wise mind

DBT describes three states of mind. We all move between them every day.

Reasonable mind

Thinking in facts, logic and plans. Useful for solving problems, but it can leave out what matters to you.

Emotion mind

Feelings and urges are in charge. It brings passion and care, and it can also make the moment feel like the whole story.

Wise mind

Where the two overlap: a steadier inner knowing that holds what you feel and what you know, and often points to what is right for you.

Everyone has a wise mind, even when it is hard to find. Mindfulness practice is how we get there more often.

What you do

The “what” skills

Observe

Notice what is here (sensations, thoughts, sounds, urges) without trying to change it or push it away.

On a labyrinth walk: the ground under each step, the pull to hurry.

Describe

Put words to what you notice. Stick to what you can observe: “my chest is tight” rather than “this is a disaster.”

After a walk, we describe what came up together.

Participate

Throw yourself fully into what you are doing, without self-consciousness. Let yourself become part of the activity.

Let the walk be the only thing you are doing.

How you do it

The “how” skills

Without judging

Notice the facts and their effects without labelling them good or bad. Let go of “should.” When you catch yourself judging, don't judge the judging.

One thing at a time

Give your full attention to one thing. When your mind wanders, which it will, gently bring it back, as many times as it takes.

Effectively

Focus on what works for your goals in this situation, rather than on being right or on how things ought to be.

Other ways into practice

Warmth

Loving Kindness

Loving Kindness is practice in wishing well. It isn't about forcing yourself to feel love. Over time it softens judgment, hostility and self-criticism, and makes room for warmth.

May I be happy. May I be safe.
May I be healthy. May I live in peace.

We start with yourself, then widen the circle: someone you love, a neutral person, someone difficult, and finally all beings. When your mind wanders, you return to the words and the warmth.

Balance

Doing mind and being mind

Doing mind is focused on goals, tasks and getting somewhere. Being mind experiences the moment without needing to do anything about it.

Too much doing leaves us driven and depleted. Too much being can leave important things undone. DBT practises moving between them on purpose, finding the middle path in wise mind.

In your therapy

How we practise together

Mindfulness supports your therapy. It does not replace crisis care. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.

Coming soon · BridgePath therapy group

DBT Comprehensive Mindfulness group

An 11-week therapy group that follows the comprehensive mindfulness skills schedule from Marsha Linehan's DBT skills training. Each week covers one part of the practice: wise mind, the what and how skills, Loving Kindness, balancing doing and being, and more. Two of the weeks are a labyrinth walk, in person in Spokane or on the finger labyrinth.

Details
Dates, group size, format and who the group is for are still being set.
Fee
See Fees & Insurance for the group session fee.
Email me if you'd like to hear when it opens. You don't need to say why you're interested, and please leave out any personal or health details.
✉ I'm interested in the group

Walk the labyrinth

A labyrinth is one winding path to a center and back out. There are no dead ends and no wrong turns, so there is nothing to solve. That leaves your attention free for the practice itself.

In person · Spokane area

A labyrinth walk with Lori

We meet at a labyrinth in Spokane County that clients have chosen. After a short check-in, you walk the path at your own pace, in silence or holding a question or intention we choose together. Lori walks with you or waits at the edge, whichever you prefer. Afterwards we sit and talk about what you noticed.

Where
You choose. See the Spokane labyrinths and pick your favourites.
When
Email Lori to plan a walk. Walks depend on the weather; we can switch to the office or the finger labyrinth on the day.
Length and fee
Email Lori to ask about session length and fees for a walk.
Access
Tell Lori about anything that makes walking harder: surface, distance, stamina, mobility aids. The finger labyrinth is always an equal alternative.
About privacy outdoors. A public labyrinth is a shared place, and other people may be walking or passing by. Before your first walk we agree on what we will talk about out loud, where we sit to debrief, and what to do if we meet someone you know. You can end the walk at any point.
Choose a labyrinth ✉ Ask Lori about a walk
Anywhere · online

A finger labyrinth

For clients outside the Spokane area, anyone seeing Lori by telehealth, and any day a walk isn't possible. You trace the same seven-circuit path with a finger or cursor, slowly, from the entrance to the center and back out. A Loving Kindness phrase changes as you move inward.

  • On your own between sessions, for three minutes or thirty.
  • Together in a telehealth session, both of us tracing at once.
  • Before something hard: one circuit in, a pause at the center, one circuit out.
Open the finger labyrinth →

Nothing you trace is recorded or sent anywhere. It runs entirely in your browser.

For more labyrinths and walking events around the region, visit Spokane Labyrinths ↗ (a separate site).

Sources

Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training handouts and worksheets (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

The skills on this page are described in my own words and do not reproduce Dr. Linehan's handouts.

The pattern shown is the classical seven-circuit labyrinth, a design thousands of years old that belongs to no single tradition.