Dialectical Behavior Therapy for iOS
Fill in your diary card, take a hard day apart in Chain Analysis, and find the right skill in seconds. Every DBT module, offline on your iPhone, with no account and no advertising.
Free download, optional £3.99 lifetime upgrade · no subscription
5.06 App Store ratings worldwideiPhoneOn-device storageNo account
Most DBT apps stop at tracking. Bifocal carries the two pieces of work a therapist actually asks for between sessions: a Chain Analysis of the behaviour, and a diary card they can read without translation.
01 / Chain Analysis
A tick box tells you the behaviour happened. A chain analysis shows you how, and where a different choice was available.
02 / Session export
Diary cards export as a facsimile of the official DBT diary card sheet, the layout used in session, not a screenshot or a spreadsheet.
Included with Bifocal Pro
High distress
High-distress skills are the ones you reach for at 2am with no signal. They are written out step by step, and they sit above the point where reasoning stops working.
The daily card, an exercise behind every skill across all four DBT modules, the goals you are working towards, and the record that ties them together. All of it works offline.
Rate emotions and urges, record target behaviours and tick the skills you used. Cards are timestamped, grouped by week and marked on the calendar, so a missed day is easy to spot.
Each skill opens as a guided exercise: one prompt at a time, somewhere to write, and a progress ring. Leave halfway through and the step is waiting where you left it.
Set a daily target for a skill and the day and week counters fill as you use it. Every use is dated on a calendar, so streaks and quiet weeks are both visible.
Keep the reasons the work is worth it in view. Long-term goals are mapped out in the Journal, next to the entries and wins that move you towards them.
Search skills and concepts offline, and land on a page you can act on, not a reading list for later.
Journal entries, wins and skills share one timeline. Analytics splits the same data into time patterns, emotions, goals and engagement, and Effectiveness Rankings shows which skills actually worked.
“This app is so genuinely good. I've been using it for about 1.5 years and have really benefitted from it. It's been consistently updated by the developer and they welcome feedback, if something seems like it's not working or you have a suggestion. You don't find wellness apps like this often. it's not exploitative. it's hand crafted and thoughtful. it's evidence based. it just works. thanks for the continued passion you put into this project. i love opening it up whenever there's an update to see what's been added.”
“Really realistic and well informed exercises”
Ratings are pooled from every App Store storefront where Bifocal is available, so the total can differ from the one your local App Store shows. Reviews are quoted from the English-language listings.
Spec / 001
No accounts and offline-first storage, with analytics off unless you turn them on. Built by a fellow DBT patient for the space between sessions.
Short answers to the questions that come up before installing.
No. It is a self-management tool for the time between sessions. Keep working with a clinician, and if you are in immediate danger contact your local emergency number.
No. There is no sign up, no email address, and no profile. The app opens straight into today’s card.
In a local database on your iPhone as well as your own private iCloud account.
Only what you agree to. Usage analytics are off by default and, if you turn them on, send anonymised signals through TelemetryDeck to help improve the app. There is no advertising and no cross-app tracking, and entries stay on your device and in your own iCloud.
Yes. Diary cards, skills, and past entries all work with no network connection.
Free download, optional £3.99 lifetime upgrade. There is no subscription: the download is free, and Pro is a single payment that unlocks the paid features for good. The App Store listing is the source of truth for the current price in your country.
Yes. Chain Analysis works through the vulnerability factors, the prompting event, each link in the chain and the consequences, and keeps the analysis with that day’s diary card.
Yes. A diary card exports as a facsimile of the official DBT diary card sheet, so the page you take to a session is the layout a DBT therapist already reads.
Learn the skills
What each skill is for, how to use it on a hard day, and how to keep a diary card a therapist can read. Written alongside the app, updated when the practice changes.
DBT · DBT Apps
The best DBT apps for iPhone, compared on diary cards, Chain Analysis, offline access, privacy and cost, including Bifocal, DBT Coach and DBT Pal.
Read the guideDBT · Chain Analysis
Chain analysis is a DBT tool for understanding what led to a problem behaviour. Learn the seven steps, how to map each link, and how to turn it into a plan.
Read the guideDBT · Interpersonal Effectiveness
DEAR MAN is the DBT skill for asking for what you need. Learn each step with scripts and examples, plus when to use GIVE and FAST instead.
Read the guideDBT · Crisis Plan
A DBT crisis plan decides which skills you use at which level of distress. Learn how to build one with a skills ladder, a template and a rehearsal routine.
Read the guideDBT · Progress Tracking
A practical method for tracking DBT progress: what to record each day, which patterns to look for each week, and how to review a month of skills in 20 minutes.
Read the guideDBT · Diary Cards
A practical guide to the DBT diary card: what to track, how to rate emotions and urges, and how to use the card in and between therapy sessions.
Read the guideDBT · Life Worth Living Goals
Life worth living goals give DBT skills a reason to be used. Learn what they are, how to write one, and how to use it when distress makes quitting feel easier.
Read the guideDBT · Distress Tolerance
Radical acceptance means accepting reality as it is without approving of it. Learn the DBT skill, how it differs from resignation, and how to practise it.
Read the guideDBT · Dime Game
The Dime Game is a DBT exercise for deciding how firmly to ask for something or say no. Learn the ten questions, the scoring and how to use the result.
Read the guideDBT · Distress Tolerance
TIPP is a DBT distress tolerance skill: cold water, intense exercise, paced breathing and paired muscle relaxation. Here is how to use it when emotions spike.
Read the guideChoosing an app? Best DBT apps for iPhone compares diary cards, Chain Analysis, privacy and cost across seven apps.
DBT skills glossary
Twelve core skills from the four DBT modules — mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness — each explained with when to use it, how to do it and a worked example.
