Understanding DBT
What is DBT?
1
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a skills-based approach that helps you manage intense emotions, tolerate distress, and build the kind of relationships and life you actually want. It blends practical tools with acceptance — the "dialectic" is learning to hold two things at once: you're doing the best you can, and you can still grow.
Isn’t DBT just for borderline personality disorder?
2
That's how DBT got its start, but the research has grown since then. While the strongest evidence is still for BPD, DBT has since been researched and found effective for a wide range of conditions — including depression, PTSD, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and disordered eating. If you're someone who feels things deeply, DBT skills can help regardless of diagnosis.
Can DBT help with anxiety?
3
Yes. Research has found that using DBT skills helps explain improvements in anxiety, along with depression, anger, and emotion dysregulation more broadly. The skills teach you how to ride out anxious moments instead of being run by them.
In my experience, DBT works especially well for anxiety because the "dialectic" itself is about flexibility — holding two things as true at once, and staying open to more than one way of seeing a situation. Anxiety often thrives on rigid, all-or-nothing thinking. Practicing flexible thinking in session after session isn't just a mindset shift — it can actually help reshape the brain's habitual patterns over time (a concept known as neuroplasticity), making flexible responses more automatic.
What about trauma?
4
DBT skills — especially distress tolerance and emotion regulation — are often woven into trauma-focused work. One study of women with childhood-abuse-related PTSD found that symptoms improved more with DBT than with another established trauma treatment. DBT skills can help you build the stability to do deeper trauma work, whether that happens here or with a trauma specialist.
Do I need to be in crisis to benefit from DBT?
5
Not at all. Most of my clients aren't in crisis — they're highly sensitive people, anxious overthinkers, or folks navigating a hard season who want better tools for big feelings. DBT skills are useful for anyone who wants more steadiness in daily life.
And if you are in crisis, that's okay too — it doesn't mean therapy isn't the right fit, or that you're somehow "too much." DBT was actually built with high-intensity moments in mind, and its skills can meet you wherever you're at.
What does DBT-informed work look like in our sessions?
6
I draw on DBT skills — like mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotion regulation — within a broader, whole-person approach. It's not a rigid formula; it's a toolkit I bring in alongside exploration, attachment, and family systems work, depending on what you need.
In practice, that might look like me introducing a specific skill in session — sometimes with a worksheet or handout we look at together — so we can learn it and talk through how it fits your life in real time. I'll often suggest something to try between sessions, too, whether that's practicing a skill, noticing a pattern, or trying a new response in a real moment. It's less about "assignments" and more about giving you a chance to test things out in the space between our conversations.
A note on sources
DBT's effectiveness across conditions is documented by Behavioral Tech Institute (Marsha Linehan's training organization) at behavioraltech.org/evidence. The trauma comparison study is: Bohus et al., "A Randomized Controlled Trial of DBT-PTSD," American Journal of Psychiatry, 2020.
I received my formal training in DBT through the Treatment Implementation Collaborative in 2017, and it's been a core part of how I work with clients ever since. I draw on DBT skills — mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance — not as a rigid protocol, but as a practical toolkit woven into a broader, whole-person approach to therapy. Use my Contact Form to request a free initial consultation.
Parents & Families
Parenting a struggling adolescent can feel isolating, confusing, and overwhelming — especially when you're not sure how to help, whether your child is dealing with anxiety, withdrawal, conflict at home, or questions of gender. You don't have to figure it out alone.
Understanding Sensitivity
Ever been told you're "too sensitive" or "too much"? You might be a highly sensitive person — and that's not a flaw to outgrow. Explore what it means to be an HSP and how counseling can help you feel more at home in yourself.
Now Accepting New Clients
I'm delighted to offer in-person sessions in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, with telehealth always available.
Ready to take the next step?
Fill out this short form and I'll follow up to see if we're a good fit.