Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Finding the balance between acceptance and change to create a life worth living.
What is DBT?
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence‑based treatment that helps you understand your emotions, respond more intentionally, and build a steadier internal foundation. Developed by psychologist Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., DBT blends mindfulness, behavioral science, and practical skills to support people who experience intense emotions, overwhelm, or patterns that feel hard to change.
DBT is structured, compassionate, and deeply practical—designed to help you move through life with more clarity, regulation, and self‑trust.
Who DBT Helps
DBT was originally developed to treat borderline personality disorder, but it has since been proven effective for anyone who struggles with emotional dysregulation—the feeling that your emotions are a tidal wave that knocks you off your feet.
It is exceptionally helpful for individuals experiencing:
- Intense anxiety or “emotional storms”
- Self-harming behaviors or suicidal ideation
- Chronic feelings of emptiness
- Unstable or high-conflict relationships
- Impulsivity and difficulty with self-control
DBT is especially supportive for adults who are high‑functioning on the outside yet privately overwhelmed on the inside. It’s a strong fit for people who experience:
- Emotion dysregulation — feeling things intensely, quickly, or for longer than expected
- Trauma histories — especially C‑PTSD, relational trauma, or chronic invalidation
- High achiever patterns — perfectionism, burnout, self‑criticism, or difficulty slowing down
- Anxiety and chronic stress — racing thoughts, worry, or difficulty grounding
- Relationship triggers — conflict cycles, people‑pleasing, boundary challenges, or fear of abandonment
Comprehensive DBT Program Components
A comprehensive DBT program weaves together several core components designed to support meaningful, lasting change. Each component plays a distinct role in helping you build emotional stability, strengthen self‑trust, and create healthier patterns in your daily life.
DBT Skills Training Group
- Learn new skills each week
- Provides group support
- Homework assigned every week to practice new skills and reinforce learning.
- Homework review in each group allows clients to learn from each other and an opportunity for coaching from the group leaders
DBT Individual Therapy
- Help you apply skills to your real-life patterns, relationships, and stressors
- Progress tracked using diary cards
- Individualized target behaviors to reduce life-interfering, therapy-interfering, and quality of life interfering behaviors
- Various emotions and intensity tracked
- Where insight, accountability, and meaningful change come together
Phone Coaching (as appropriate)
- Clients who participate in both DBT Skills Training Group and DBT Individual Therapy with Mid-Peninsula DBT have phone coaching privileges
- Offers real-time support to assist in generalization of skills in real-life crisis
DBT Team Consultation
- DBT Therapists meet regularly
- Ensure therapists deliver DBT-adherent therapy
DBT Skills Training Modules
DBT Skills Training teaches the core tools that help you regulate emotions, navigate stress, and build healthier relationships. These skills are taught in a structured, supportive format and include:
Mindfulness
Learn to be fully present in the moment without judgment or attachment to the moment
Distress Tolerance
Learn to get through a crisis without making the situation worse
Emotion Regulation
Learn to identify your emotions, change your emotions when you need to, and build emotional resilience
Interpersonal Effectiveness
Learn how to ask for what you need or say “no” while maintaining your self-respect and relationships