Welcome

Dialectical Behavior Therapy is an evidence-based treatment for individuals struggling with suicidal thoughts and behaviors and self-harm behaviors.

DBT focuses on building a "life worth living" and does this through developing effective skills in the following areas: Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Interpersonal Effectiveness, and Distress Tolerance. 

In DBT treatment, "dialectics" is the concept that two things that seem opposite to each other can both be true at the same time.

Dialectics means looking at life as a "both/and" instead of "either/or/but".

Some examples: 

My ex-boyfriend was really toxic and I still love him. 

My dad is the coolest dad I know and I am so embarrassed when he tries to talk to my friends.

I'm doing the best I can in life and I need to do better. 

DBT consists of the 4 components described below. If a treatment provides some of these, but not all, it is considered "DBT-informed". 

DBT-informed therapy can be helpful for some individuals. All humans can benefit from learning new skills! 

However, the existing data showing positive outcomes of reduced suicidality and self-harm is based on the full DBT treatment model, which is much more than just learning skills. We refer to this as "comprehensive DBT".  

There are 4 components that make up full DBT: 

1. Weekly individual Sessions 

2. DBT Skills Training

3. Phone coaching

4. DBT consultation team for the therapist

The role of the consultation team is to ensure therapists are providing the treatment to fidelity. The team also serves to reinforce and motivate therapists to remain empathic, non-judgemental, and objective in working with their clients. 

It does! DBT is considered the gold standard for treating suicidality, self-harm, and chronic emotional and behavioral dysregulation. 

You can find a wealth of information about peer-reviewed clinical research here.  

The TIPP skill! TIPP is used to change an individual's body chemistry when experiencing intense distress (and might have urges for self-harm, suicide, or substances).

T: temperature (splash ice cold water on the face, hold ice packs to face)

I: intense exercise (short bursts of intensive movement, like climbing stairs or doing burpees, 5-10 minutes)
P: paced breathing (slowing down the breath, ie. square breathing) 

P: progressive muscle relaxation (tensing and relaxing muscles from head to toe)