Dialectical Behavior Therapy can address a variety of needs.
Adult DBT
Standard Adult DBT targets behaviors in adults that have not improved with other types of therapy. These behaviors negatively impact one’s quality of life, such as acting on impulsive urges that lead to damaged relationships, financial problems, low self-worth, and hospitalization. Clients will learn skills to make decisions about their behavior to reduce negative consequences that may occur as a result of emotionally-driven actions. Adult DBT clients attend weekly skills group and individual therapy.
Adolescent DBT
Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents has been adapted for teens and young adults. This adaptation targets problematic behaviors in teens that are beyond those expected of typical adolescent development. These behaviors include engaging in risky activities, pervasive parent-teen conflict, social isolation from friends, self-harming, and suicidal ideation. Parents and teens attend a weekly skills group together, and family therapy is often a component of Adolescent DBT.
Radically Open DBT
Radically Open DBT is designed to address problems related to excessive self-control, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, severe anxiety, social isolation, anorexia, and chronic depression. People with excessive self-control tend to be high achievers at the expense of desired quality of life. Through RO-DBT, clients will learn to become more flexible, introspective, and expressive. RO-DBT clients attend weekly skills group and individual therapy.
Trauma Recovery
Our program offers Prolonged Exposure (PE), a treatment specifically designed for individuals who have endured trauma and experience post-traumatic stress and avoidance of experiences related to the trauma. Prolonged Exposure incorporates targeted mindfulness of the traumatic memory and present-day exercises to increase the client's overall engagement in their life. Clients engage in PE using the DBT model.
Our therapists are also experienced in treating problems related to gender dysphoria, sexuality, and physical disabilities impacting their quality of life. Using the DBT framework, clients will learn skills to address issues within the following domains. Participating in the full model of DBT will still be required.
Gender Identity And dysphoria
A focus on gender identity for adolescents and adults emphasizes empowerment, exploration of identities, and improving self-esteem and confidence. Treatment targets include movement towards authentic living, reducing harmful effects of internalized transphobia and discrimination, reducing the intensity of gender dysphoria, and improving connection with relationships and families. Treatment also provides education on coming out, social and medical transitions, and effective coping strategies.
relationships and Sexuality
Relationship and sexuality counseling emphasizes building connection, improving communication and intimacy, and building happiness in romantic and sexual relationships. Education and treatment targets engaging in healthy sexual practices, empowerment and self-esteem building, reducing out of control sexual behavior and maintaining healthy boundaries, building intimacy, reducing pain or discomfort during sexual experiences, recovering from trauma, and sexual and gender identity therapy.
Cross-Disability Approach
A cross-disability approach includes a focus on empowerment of persons with disabilities, all types of disabilities including a mental health diagnosis along with other disabilities. This approach focuses on people’s abilities rather than disabilities, empowering people, teaching self-advocacy skills, and in this setting using the DBT model to help people increase their ability to live independently, make decisions, gain equal opportunities, and reduce stigmatization.