DBT House / DBH-A04-3
Walls of Boundaries — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about walls of boundaries while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Riley wants privacy around messages while remaining connected to friends.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. Walls can represent chosen limits rather than total isolation.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore walls of boundaries using an ordinary or fictional example? We can adapt it, observe, or stop." Ask what the person wants from the conversation.
Elicit before teaching
Ask: "How does this show up, if at all, in your own words?" Offer this idea tentatively: Walls can represent chosen limits rather than total isolation. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Identify one useful boundary, one flexible opening, and a situation where safety needs outside support. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Riley wants privacy around messages while remaining connected to friends.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: What should this boundary protect, and how can it remain realistic? Avoid assigning motives or interpreting silence as agreement.
Respond to a mismatch
If the person rejects the frame, say: "Thank you for correcting it. What would be more useful?" Return to their language or choose a different approach.
Close with agency
Ask which observation, question, or support request the person wants to keep. Confirm a manageable ending and appropriate follow-up; do not turn a tentative possibility into a homework obligation.
Prompts for this resource
- Readiness, permission, cultural context, and access needs to check:
- What should this boundary protect, and how can it remain realistic?
- What would tell me to adapt, stop, or seek supervision?
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.