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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique set of circumstances in which most of us are struggling with the same sort of existential questions across our unique contexts and subjective experiences. As we work to answer these questions within the uncertainty of the pandemic, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) provides tools through which to consider and make meaning of these existential questions. DBT skills, which are aimed at increasing our capacity to practice mindfulness, regulate emotions, tolerate distress, think dialectically, and interact interpersonally, provide practical strategies to increase our senses of agency as we consider who we are in our own lives and in our relationship with others. With increased agency, we are more able to respond to the existential questions inherent in a global crisis by building the kind of courage needed to choose who to be.

Keywords

existential psychology humanistic psychology dialectical behavior therapy critical pedagogy

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The Courage to Be: Using DBT Skills to Choose Who to Be in Uncertainty

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