A key function of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is enhancing the life skills that many patients with disorders like borderline personality disorder (BPD) lack or need to improve. These life skills include regulating emotions (emotion regulation skills), paying attention to the experience of the present moment and regulating attention (mindfulness skills), effectively navigating interpersonal situations (interpersonal effectiveness), and tolerating distress and surviving crises without making situations worse (distress tolerance skills).