That's not a joke; one of the core concepts of DBT is that the problem is NOT that the person is manipulative. In fact, the issue is usually that they're not manipulative enough! Properly manipulative people don't get caught and wind up in psych wards and therapy. Properly manipulative people are CEOs and Politicians. Here's how to properly manipulate people.

Skills in this Module

DBT Interpersonal effectiveness assumes you have one of three fundamental goals in any interaction.

• DEAR MAN is when you are negotiating or otherwise hoping to talk someone into something.
• GIVE is for when you are trying to make the other person like you.
• FAST is for when someone is trying to talk YOU into something, and you need to set a hard boundary.