Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

I have extensive training and experience in DBT. In my private practice, I do not take on individuals who need a formal DBT program as that would be unethical as a solo practitioner. I do heavily use my DBT workbooks to pull helpful worksheets that aid in teaching various healthy life skills

Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a type of talking therapy that is based on cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with an eastern philosophy influence. Alison utilizes DBT for people who feel emotions very intensely. DBT helps to understand and accept difficult feelings, learn skills to manage big feelings, and become able to make positive changes in your life.

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is based on understanding and accepting your feelings and learning skills to manage those feelings. Using learned skills to make positive changes in life.

DBT is especially helpful when folks feel very upset in the moment and seemingly lose their train of thought. DBT was a focus of my more advanced training (internship) prior to licensure.

DBT is great for those who struggle with relationships. It helps individuals become aware of how they affect others, and hold boundarie for themselves and others.

A fundamental premise of DBT is building a life we want to live in. It's goal-oriented and focuses on skills we can use and actions we can take to better our lives. DBT focuses on 4 core elements we can all learn more about: mindfulness, interpersonal-effectiveness, emotion-regulation and distress-tolerance.

I have received an intensive 2 year training in DBT and have led a DBT group. This orientation is incorporated into each session.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy teaches skills in four specific areas. These are practical skills for everyday use that will help you manage your emotions, behaviors, and stressors more effectively. These skill areas include Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, & Interpersonal Effectiveness. I am passionate about Dialectical Behavior Therapy and proud to be intensively trained in this treatment. You can always expect high-quality DBT treatment delivered with enthusiasm & expertise.

DBT offers practical skills that I consider "life tools" to help bring mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotional regulation to your life. I have specialized DBT training through Marsha Linehan's Behavioral Tech Institute (2020-2022), including DBT Skills Training, DBT Foundations Training, and DBT for Adolescents & Families.

Our practice runs a DBT and RO DBT program with weekly skills group. Originally it was designed for people with Borderline Personality Disorder, which it's excellent at treating, but it's been shown through many studies to be helpful for many people. DBT helps us learn the skills to be more effective in life, have more control over our emotions while keeping them from having so much control over us, and helping us to be present with ourselves in the day to day.

Why ruminate when you can free your mind and soul to be in the moment? Can you tell I have a thing for mindfulness. DBT is where mindfulness and CBT meet. The main goals of DBT are to teach people how to live in the moment, develop healthy ways to cope with stress, regulate their emotions, and improve their relationships with self and others.

I offer a DBT informed approach (not strictly DBT as I pull from other modalities when appropriate) as to me it is the most all encompassing therapy I have come across. It helps teach life skills such as mindfulness practice, radical acceptance, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness and emotional regulation. All such skills can help with most mental health challenges and addictive tendencies.

DBT is very skillful, so that is definitely right up my alley! I love DBT for many reasons, but two of my favorite skills are mindfulness and wise mind. Reminding ourselves that we can use both the emotional and logical parts of our brain can be a huge game changer in trying to reframe our thought patterns and "un-learn" some of those beliefs mentioned above.

I have extensive training and experience in using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help people build skills to manage emotion regulation, improve relationships, and improve a positive sense of self. This treatment offers practical skill building to improve mindfulness of the experience of emotions, and tools to change emotional reactivity. DBT is useful in reducing suicidal thoughts, reducing substance use, improving mood and decreasing anxiety.

DBT aims to help people create lives worth living. For treatment with DBT to be considered comprehensive, it needs to include all four of these modes of treatment, including: • Individual therapy to enhance motivation • Skills groups to enhance capabilities • Phone coaching to generalize skills to natural environment • Consultation team meetings to enhance therapist motivation and capability

I am trained in DBT and able to teach clients these valuable skills

Through my PhD training, I have gained extensive experience integrating DBT into therapy with my clients. DBT is a skills-based therapy that is applicable (I believe!) to all humans, as its goals are truly universal in nature. DBT skills can help us to learn how to be more self-aware and mindful, to more effectively tolerate distress in our lives and manage challenging emotions, and to communicate with others more constructively. It can also help us understand our triggers and vulnerabilities.