Comprehensive DBT

You’ve tried everything you can, and still…

You struggle to manage your emotions, and you don’t understand why your mood seems to go from 0 to 100 at the drop of a hat. Because you feel so deeply, things that seem harmless to other people cause you immense pain, panic, and distress. You feel hopeless about the future and sometimes hurt yourself in the process of trying to manage it all.

You are in the right place. Here’s how DBT could be a great fit for you.

Comprehensive - also known as "Gold Standard" or "Full Model" - DBT is an intensive treatment developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan. DBT can be helpful for people experiencing suicidal thoughts, self-harm, and challenges regulating their emotions. It is well-known as a treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder, but it can also be helpful for many other mental health diagnoses, symptoms, and concerns.

Comprehensive DBT can also be a great alternative to higher levels of care, like hospitalization or residential treatment.

Click here to learn more about Comprehensive DBT.

How do I know if DBT is the right treatment for me?

DBT is designed to address 5 Areas of Dysregulation.

Read through each area of dysregulation and the associated questions. If you find yourself identifying with multiple of these areas of dysregulation, DBT could be a good fit for your treatment needs and goals.

    • Do your emotions feel like they go from 0-100, often without warning?

    • Do painful emotions feel like they are going to last forever?

    • Does it take a long time for you to come down from difficult emotions?

    • Do you have trouble maintaining relationships?

    • Do you often feel afraid that people in your life will leave you?

    • Do your relationships feel rocky, with a lot of intense ups and downs?

    • Do you feel unsure of who you are, and what it means to be you?

    • Do you experience chronic feelings of emptiness or numbness?

    • Do you struggle with low self-esteem or self-worth?

    • Do you tend to act impulsively in ways that are harmful to you (examples: binge eating, reckless shopping, substance use)?

    • Do you engage in self-harm or struggle with thoughts of suicide?

    • Do you tend to think in black-and-white, or all-or-nothing terms?

    • Do you feel dissociated, detached from reality, or “spaced out” when you are stressed?

    • Do you get worried or suspicious of others when you are stressed?

Full DBT: The Treatment Package

Comprehensive DBT is a treatment package that includes the following components:

  • Weekly DBT Individual Therapy

  • Weekly DBT Skills Group (option to do in a 1:1 setting if desired)

  • As-needed DBT Phone Coaching

Individual Therapy

$200 | 55 minutes 

Comprehensive DBT Individual Therapy is a collaborative, accepting, and non-judgmental space for us to work together towards your goals and building the life you want to live. Each session involves a combination of psychoeducation, validation, processing, skills coaching, problem solving, and practicing new behaviors. DBT Individual Therapy also includes a weekly diary card review, between-session practice assignments, and a more structured session agenda built on the priorities outlined in the DBT treatment hierarchy.

DBT Skills Group

Adult Group: 120 minutes | Adolescent Multifamily Group: 90 minutes
Pricing varies

DBT Skills Group teaches skills in a classroom style format from 4 content modules: Mindfulness, Distress Tolerance, Emotion Regulation, and Interpersonal Effectiveness. It takes 6 months to complete one cycle of the skills curriculum. 

Myself and my collaborators offer DBT Adult and Adolescent Multifamily Skills Groups. Clients also have the option of receiving skills training in an individual 1:1 format if they prefer. Weekly skills group is done in addition to weekly DBT Individual Therapy sessions.

Each skills group session follows the agenda below:

  • Mindfulness Practice

  • Homework Review

  • Break

  • New Skill Didactic

  • Homework Assignment & Closing

DBT Phone Coaching

$20 | 5 minutes (first 5 minutes each week are free)

DBT Phone Coaching is charged in 5 minute increments. The first 5 minutes of each week is free, after which it is billed at $20 per every 5 minutes. The week resets on the day of your regularly scheduled DBT Individual Therapy session. DBT Phone Coaching is meant to be brief, between-session coaching to help you utilize your DBT skills outside the therapy room. DBT Phone Coaching is not crisis counseling, a crisis line, or "phone therapy".

The DBT Approach to Care

“The assumption of DBT is that there is a nugget of gold in every cup of sand; there is some inherent validity in every response.”
— Marsha Linehan

    • Clients are doing the best that they can

    • Clients want to improve

    • Clients need to do better, try harder, and/or be more motivated to change

    • Clients must learn new behaviors in all relevant contexts

    • Clients cannot fail in DBT

    • Clients may not have caused all their own problems, but they have to solve them anyway

    • Suicidal clients’ lives are unbearable as they are currently being lived

    • The most caring thing a therapist can do is help clients change in ways that bring them closer to their own ultimate goals

    • Clarity, precision, and compassion are of the utmost importance in the conduct of DBT

    • The therapeutic relationship is a real relationship between equals

    • The principles of behavior are universal, affecting therapists no less than clients

    • DBT therapists can fail

    • DBT can fail even when therapists do not

    • Therapists treating highly dysregulated clients need support

My Training

I am intensively trained in DBT and provide Comprehensive DBT and DBT-informed therapy in my practice. I am currently a fellow in the Seattle Training in Adult, Adolescent, and Relationship (STAAR) Program working under Drs. Jared Michonski and Erin Miga. Aligned with the comprehensive model of DBT, I attend a weekly DBT Consultation Team. I am currently working towards Linehan Board Certification.

My past experiences with DBT include providing DBT-informed skills groups for adolescents with eating disorders partial hospitalization and residential settings, and DBT-informed individual sessions and skills groups to adolescents with mood disorders in intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization settings. I also have been and continue to be involved in research on adapting DBT for autistic young adults.

Ready to Get Started?

Complete an interest form to schedule a free 15 minute phone consultation!

I respond to all inquiries, regardless if I have an opening or not, within 1-3 business days. If I haven't responded to you within 3 business days, please feel free to reach out to me again as I may have missed your message!