DIALECTICAL BEHAVIOUR THERAPY

DBT

“All that you touch You Change. All that you Change Changes you. The only lasting truth Is Change.” Octavia Butler

THE PROCESS

How ItWorks

DBT combines practical skills with deeper emotional work to help you manage intense emotions, navigate relationships, and respond to difficult situations with greater intention.

  • Understand Your Patterns

    We identify what tends to trigger intense emotions or lead to behaviors you want to change.

  • Build Awareness

    You learn to notice your thoughts, emotions, body sensations, and urges before they automatically turn into actions.

  • Learn Practical Skills

    We practice tools for managing emotions, tolerating distress, staying present, and communicating more effectively. You learn ways to understand and respond to strong emotions without being controlled by them.

  • Build Distress Tolerance

    We develop strategies for getting through difficult moments without making the situation harder.

  • Strengthen Relationships

    We work on boundaries, communication, asking for what you need, and navigating conflict.

  • Practice Acceptance and Change

    DBT recognizes that you can accept yourself as you are while also working toward meaningful change.

Who is DBT for?

For those who want to build practical skills for managing emotions and relationships.

DBT may be a good fit if you:

  • Feel emotions very intensely or quickly become overwhelmed

  • Have difficulty calming down once you're upset

  • Struggle with impulsive reactions or behaviors you later regret

  • Have a hard time tolerating uncertainty, rejection, conflict, or distress

  • Struggle with boundaries or communicating your needs

  • Have difficulty navigating conflict in relationships

  • Want practical tools you can use between therapy sessions

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • DBT traditionally focuses on four core areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

  • Dialectical means holding two seemingly opposite ideas at the same time. In DBT, one of the central ideas is that you can accept yourself as you are while also working toward change.

  • No. DBT was originally developed to treat borderline personality disorder, but DBT skills are now used with many different concerns, including emotional dysregulation, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, impulsivity, and difficulty coping with stress.

  • Both approaches work with thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. DBT places a stronger emphasis on emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, relationships, and balancing acceptance with change.

  • Not necessarily. Worksheets and skills practice can be useful, but DBT can be adapted to your needs and incorporated into individual therapy in a way that feels practical and relevant to you. If you are looking for a more structured form of DBT there are groups you can join to get a full immersive experience of the modality. We can talk more to see if this would be a better fit for you.

Ready to reconnect with yourself?

Book a free 15-minute consultation to share what's going on, ask questions, and see if we're the right fit.

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