Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was designed by Marsha Linehan to help people regulate difficult emotions and improve relationships. It was originally developed for individuals struggling with suicidal thoughts and self-destructive behaviors. The skills alone (without comprehensive DBT) is empirically supported to help improve the life quality of people who meet criteria for borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder and other mood disorders, substance use disorders, and eating disordered behaviors. Smaller effects are noticed for people with PTSD and anxiety disorders, Clinically speaking, this therapy is effective for people who have histories consistent with invalidating environments often involving relational complex trauma  and people with difficulties with regulating emotion.

• Comprehensive DBT includes all parts of the treatment: weekly individual therapy, weekly skills group, phone coaching as needed, and a consultation team for the therapist. This full model provides a high level of support and structure, especially for individuals struggling with severe emotional difficulties.

• DBT-Informed Therapy uses DBT principles and skills but may not include every component of the full model. For example, we might tailor DBT skills into individual therapy sessions without offering phone coaching or a full skills group. This can still be very effective, especially for those who want to learn DBT tools but don’t need the full level of support.

Individual Therapy: One-on-one sessions focus on your personal goals, using DBT strategies to address challenges like self-criticism, emotional regulation, and building healthier patterns.

Skills Group: In a supportive, classroom-like group therapy session, you learn practical skills in four areas: mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Phone Coaching: In comprehensive DBT, I offer phone coaching for brief support in applying DBT skills to real-life, high-stress situations.

Therapist Consultation Team: I meet with a team of other DBT-trained therapists who consult on how to best provide care to clients in DBT-based therapy.

At Grounded Spirit Psychology, DBT can be tailored to your needs. Feel free to reach out for more information.