DBT may be a good treatment option if you:

•  engage in self-destructive thoughts or behaviors
• feel you are living in constant crisis
• struggle with low frustration tolerance, impulsivity and high reactivity
• find it challenging to manage strong emotions
• have interpersonal and relationship problems
• have symptoms or traits associated with borderline personality disorder

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a research-supported treatment which combines cognitive-behavioral theory and methods with Eastern meditative principles and practices. Developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan and her colleagues at the University of Washington, DBT addresses problems in regulating emotions, behavior, and thinking.

DBT maintains that some people, due to their environments during upbringing and due to biological factors as yet unknown, react abnormally to emotional stimuli. Their level of arousal goes up much more quickly, peaks at a higher level, and takes more time to return to baseline. This can lead to constant “crises”, extreme emotional lability (emotions that shift rapidly), interpersonal/relationship problems and stress related disorders.

If you are considering DBT it may be because you have not yet learned any methods for coping with these sudden, intense surges of emotion. DBT is a method for teaching skills that will help in this task. We will work together to; increase interpersonal effectiveness skills, study and experiment w/mindfulness practice and increase distress tolerance skills. I offer both individual and group DBT therapy and skills training.

Many people come to DBT because they have been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder. DBT is an empirically validated treatment approach for this specific diagnosis when implemented as designed. But, I work with many people who do not meet criteria for BPD but struggle with; anger, emotional dysregulation, depression and other mood disorders where DBT therapy can also be very effective.

My DBT Training & Experience

I was introduced to the DBT model in 2006 when working with at-risk adolescents in community mental health and soon realized the effectiveness of this model. I have maintained a private practice in Oakland since 2007 where I see individual adults, teens, families and couples and integrate DBT into my work.

In 2012, I began the intensive DBT training, through Behavior Tech, which completes in June of this year. In 2008, I attended Coping With Chaos: Treating Multiple Severe Disorders with DBT, with Marsha Linehan, PhD.