Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in Seattle & Washington State
What is DBT?
DBT is an evidence-based treatment designed to help individuals regulate emotions, improve relationships, reduce self-destructive behaviors, and build practical coping tools. It has been shown to be effective for personality disorders, mood instability, addiction, eating disorders, trauma-related symptoms, and chronic emotional dysregulation.
At its core, DBT balances two seemingly opposite forces: acceptance and change. Clients learn to validate their current experience while actively building skills to create meaningful behavioral change.
Mindfulness is central to DBT. The model teaches that opposites can coexist and be harmonized, helping clients reduce suffering while increasing agency and stability. I offer DBT-based individual therapy and skills groups for adults and teens. Additional DBT Groups can be found through Equilibrium Therapy Group, in West Seattle and Virtually.
You can learn more about DBT and its origins here.
The Four Core Skills Modules of DBT
Mindfulness
Learning to observe, describe and participate in every day life. This module includes skills for finding peace and balance in each moment.
Emotion Regulation
These tools help individuals gain stronger awareness and connection to their emotions, reducing vulnerability to overwhelm, and increasing inner stability.
Distress Tolerance
When crisis arrives, or emotions become intense, distress tolerance skills can help individuals get through challenging moments without making situations worse.
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Building skills to set and uphold boundaries, increase assertiveness and repair/strengthen relationships.
Why is DBT great for Teens?
DBT offers a vast toolkit of concrete, hands-on skills to use in a variety of situations. Skills can be taught and practiced in groups and individual therapy—so that when crisis arrives, individuals are prepared for the moment and know how to respond.
Learning skills is a valuable way to process and validate challenging experiences that Teens experience every day. Unfortunately, our world often tells young people their problems are unimportant. In my therapy sessions, I seek to create a space where all emotions can be examined with care, as a valid response to life’s events. In session, we will collaborate on how to learn from emotions and make decisions that are in line with the live you want to live.
