DBT House / DBH-A18-3
The Help-Seeking Path — Clinician dialogue
Guide a collaborative conversation about the help-seeking path while checking fit and participant choice.
15 minutes · Clinician script · Mental health professionals
Fictional example: Riley wants to know whom to contact when familiar coping is insufficient.
Use within your training and assessment of readiness. A visible route can make asking for support more concrete.
Invite and obtain permission
Offer: "Would it be useful to explore the help-seeking path 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: A visible route can make asking for support more concrete. Ask what fits and what does not.
Guide the task
Draw a routine support path and a higher-support path using existing care guidance and verified contacts chosen by the person. Ask for permission before giving an example. Use this fictional illustration if useful: Riley wants to know whom to contact when familiar coping is insufficient.
Reflect and check accuracy
Reflect only what was offered: "I heard you describe ___. What did I miss?" Ask: What would make using this path easier? 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 would make using this path easier?
- 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.