DBT House / DBH-A01-1
My House My Meaning — Concept brief
Understand the idea behind my house my meaning and consider whether it fits your context.
8 minutes · Handout · Adults; supported use as appropriate
Fictional example: Riley prefers a community courtyard to a detached house.
Use an ordinary or fictional example, with a clinician when appropriate. A house can be an optional metaphor for organizing coping and support.
The idea
A house can be an optional metaphor for organizing coping and support.
An ordinary example
Riley prefers a community courtyard to a detached house.
What this can look like
Choose a house, apartment, garden, or other personally meaningful structure and assign your own meanings to its spaces.
Check the fit
What metaphor fits your experience without assuming everyone has safe housing? You may disagree with the framing, use fiction, or decide that this approach is not useful today.
A useful distinction
A house metaphor is an organizing option, not a diagnostic test, safety determination, or required way to represent experience.
Prompts for this resource
- What part of this idea makes sense to me?
- What metaphor fits your experience without assuming everyone has safe housing?
Conceptual background
Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training: Fundamentals — Behavioral Tech Institute
Background on the approach only. Original exercises and wording are by More Than Therapy with AI assistance; the source does not validate or endorse these materials.