Nonjudgment is one of the main skills in DBT. It is HOW we practice awareness skills.

DBT uses the concept of a reasonable, emotional, and wise mind to describe a person’s thoughts and behaviors. Wise mind is the middle ground between the emotional mind (decision making and judging based entirely on our emotions, or the way we feel) and the reasonable mind (thoughts, decisions and judgments based entirely on facts and rational thinking). Understanding the concept of Wise Mind helps us better manage our behavior.

DBT founder Marsha Linehan describes wise mind as “that part of each person that can know and experience truth. It is where the person knows something to be true or valid. It is almost always quiet. It has a certain peace.” It is the balance between head and heart.

A skill for helping you get back to wise mind is noticing judgment thoughts. Sometimes we tend to jump into a story around what caused an emotion and forget to Check the Facts. Letting go of assumptions and describing the facts of a situation can help us get back to a place of effective choices.

• observe judgment facial expressions or body language
• notice judgments in your tone of voice
• try restating judgments to be neutral or factual

If judgments persist, try Willing Hands or Half-Smile to move you through emotion mind behaviors. Finally, let go of self-judgment and give yourself some grace.