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.
DBT Groups
DBT is a skills-based therapy that has been shown to be effective in treating a wide variety of issues, such as personality disorders, addiction, eating disorders, and for those who struggle to regulate their emotions or maintain healthy relationships.
DBT promotes both acceptance and change of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to manage and reduce mental health problems. Mindfulness is a central part of this treatment approach. The fundamental concept in DBT is that opposites can coexist and be harmonized. In other words, DBT brings together two things that seem to be opposites—acceptance and change—to achieve better treatment results.
You can learn more about DBT and its origins here.
More group times are available through Equilibrium Therapy Group in West Seattle. If the times listed below are not available to you, please explore more group offerings here.
Skills Group - Adults
This is a six-month curriculum with four modules that last six weeks each. The modules are: Core Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Distress Tolerance. Clients must be in weekly individual therapy and make a commitment to participate weekly.
Time
Wednesdays from 1:30-3:00pm
Location: Virtual
Skills Group - Teens
This group targets the unique needs and experiences of teens as they navigate middle and high school and struggle with anxiety, depression, and at times risky or dangerous behavior. Teens learn the four modules of the adult skills group, plus an additional module called Walking to Middle Path, which focuses on understanding typical vs atypical adolescent behavior, balancing acceptance and change, and improving relationships between teens and their caregivers. Parents are invited to group once a month to learn the skills with their teen.
Time
Tuesdays from 6:00pm-7:30pm
Location: West Seattle