One of the most transformative strategies we use to help both children and parents improve their relationships with themselves is Core Problem Analysis (CPA). CPA expands on the work of DBT for children and adolescents and is powerful for people of all ages.
What is Core Problem Analysis?
CPA is a therapeutic approach that encourages people to look deeply at the root issues underlying their challenges. For example, someone might struggle with self-criticism or a fear of rejection. These feelings may stem from conditional ways we have learned to evaluate ourselves, often through experiences in early relationships. By identifying these patterns, CPA allows us to understand why certain situations trigger our reactions and what beliefs influence our thoughts, which often reveals conditions we have inadvertently set for ourselves, impacting our core senses of love, safety, and/or belonging. Remember: WE ALL HAVE CONDITIONS FOR OURSELVES!!!! Our conditions make sense because they’ve helped keep us safe based on what we’ve learned and experienced — and they’re also limiting, as they lead us to avoid challenges or try to control others, or even punish ourselves for feeling ‘bad.’
Dialectical Thinking in CPA
CPA requires us to engage in dialectical thinking—the ability to hold opposing truths. Everything has an opposite: day and night, light and dark, success and failure. CPA applies this concept by exploring both unconditional and conditional ways of understanding our world. Dr. Perepletchikova teaches that we all have three core unconditional senses: a sense of self-love, a sense of safety, and a sense of belonging. These “unconditional” senses describe our relationship with ourselves as something inherent, neither good nor bad, we just are. In contrast, conditional senses, shaped by life experiences, can lead us to view ourselves as “good” or “bad” based on circumstances and/or others’ approval.
How CPA Can Improve Self-Relationship
A strong self-relationship can be difficult to maintain when our sense of worth is conditional. For instance, if we only feel “good” when we succeed or gain approval and “bad” when we face criticism or setbacks, we may avoid challenges and judge ourselves harshly. CPA helps clients identify these conditional beliefs and begin to build a foundation of self-worth that is less reactive and more stable.
Through CPA, we help clients identify recurring issues and trace them back to their origins, typically uncovering past experiences that have impacted their relationship with themselves. For example, someone who fears rejection might recognize through CPA that they’ve internalized a belief that they’re “unlovable” due to past experiences. This realization can empower one to approach their self-worth from a more effective perspective, separating past experiences and conditions from present reality.
Using CPA in Therapy
In therapy, CPA typically involves these elements:
Identifying Patterns: Clients discuss recurring struggles and identify patterns in thoughts and feelings.- Tracing Back to Origin: Clients explore the roots of these patterns, often uncovering moments where these beliefs and reactions were first formed.
- Reframing Beliefs: Therapists work with clients to reframe their conditional beliefs, fostering a more compassionate view of themselves.
- Consistent Tracking & Skills Practice: Therapists assist clients in creating a “toolbox” of coping strategies to connect with their core senses, identify their conditions and different ways they show up, and decide how to navigate them in the future.
CPA’s Long-Term Impact on Self-Relationship
Using CPA to uncover and address core issues establishes a long-term foundation for change. In the moment, it may also provide short-term relief by unveiling situations connected to these deeper issues, AND we are in this for long-term gains. By better understanding why we feel and react the ways we do, people can embrace their experiences as part of a more significant journey rather than judging or avoiding them. Clients often report feeling more grounded, compassionate, and resilient, as CPA enables them to cultivate self-acceptance, compassion, and personal agency.
Ultimately, CPA isn’t about fixing what’s “wrong” but about discovering and nurturing a more supportive, kinder relationship with oneself. In therapy, this approach encourages individuals to honor their past, embrace their experiences, and cultivate a self-relationship rooted in genuine compassion and growth.
If you want more help with skills like this, join our skills training groups or schedule with a therapist at CCDBT. We’d love to go more in-depth with this skill and many more like it!
Sources:
Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT® skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press
https://www.childdbt.com/dbt-c/
https://www.childdbt.com/core-problem-analysis/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28942805/