Now Enrolling for Adult, Adolescent, and Parent Programs!
Our Philosophy
We believe in the power of therapy.
We believe that acceptance and change can happen.
We believe that you can have a life worth living!
How do I know if DBT is right for my Adolescent?
Teenagers often experience…
- *Extreme emotional “ups and downs”
- Challenges communicating with their friends (or anyone) at school or home
- Not knowing how to make or keep friends
- Not knowing how to get out of relationships with mean people
- A LOT of anger, and a fear of abandonment if anyone sees their “real” personality
- Lost time when under stress, feeling “empty”
- Thoughts of: “Who am I?” or “Why don’t I know who I am?”
- Confusion about why their emotions are so intense and won’t change
- Impulsive actions to get rid of any pain, or to be “cool and accepted” (by using drugs, alcohol, food, shopping, shoplifting, gaming, sex, reckless driving, etc. to “numb out”)
- Recurring suicidal thoughts, urges and behaviors
- Thinking that self-harm is a good way to punish themselves or get rid of intense pain
- Symptoms of Borderline Personality Disorder, Dissociation, Addictions, Persistent and Major Depression, Social Anxiety, and General Anxiety
Caregivers often experience…
- Thoughts of: “Am I too lenient?” or “Am I too strict?”
- Confusion about why their teen is in pain/ anxious/ depressed/ angry, and knowing how to support them
- Worry about the physical and emotional safety of their teen – whether they are hurting themselves or a peer is hurting them – and how to keep them safe
- Communication challenges in getting a conversation started with their teen when “they hate talking to me!”
- Fears that their teen doesn’t have friends, or has the “wrong” friends
- Worries about teenage peer pressure to be sexually active, watch pornography, and base their worth on how they look on social media
- Not knowing how to balance being a friend to their teen and maintaining respect for their leadership in the family
- Wondering when to allow their teen to experience failure, and knowing when to step in and help
- Questioning their caregiving: “Where did I mess up? I just wanted to prepare them for life.”
- Feeling guilty for not being a “good/ helpful/ happy/ perfect” caregiver
At The DBT Center for Adolescents, we use Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) to treat Pre-Teens aged 11-13 years old, Teens aged 14-18 years old, and their Parents or Caregivers
Both adolescent programs include four key components:
Therapy
50 Minute Sessions
Skills Groups
2 Hour Sessions
Support
Brief Phone Call
Consultation
Weekly Between Therapists
Psychotherapy Sessions
(50 minutes each)
Individual Psychotherapy Sessions
Family Therapy Sessions
(50 minutes each)
These sessions are held one time per month with a DBT-trained therapist, the adolescent client and their caregivers (additional frequency is determined with therapist).
Weekly Attendance in DBT Skills Groups
(2 Hour Sessions)
Weekly Attendance in Multi-Family DBT Skills Groups
In the Pre-teen and Teen programs, Multi-Family skills groups are attended by the adolescent client and their parents or caregivers.This process takes approximately 28-30 weeks for the family to complete. The participants will attend 4 skills group modules, as follows:
Weekly Attendance in the Teen-only skills groups for teens 14-18 years old
After attending the Multi-Family DBT Skills groups with their parents or caregivers, the 14-18 year old client attends 4 teen-only skills group modules with other teens who have completed the Multi-Family groups. This process takes approximately 28-30 weeks for the teen to complete.
The Pre-Teen and Teen program skills group modules are as follows:
Distress Tolerance
This 6-week group focuses on teaching participants to skillfully tolerate the pain and discomfort of intense feelings and emotional reactions to events that they experience in their everyday lives.This group also focuses on radically accepting situations that they cannot change or control.Interpersonal Effectiveness
This 6-week group focuses on teaching participants to skillfully get what they want from, or say no to, someone else without destroying or damaging the relationship. These skills teach participants how to have healthy communications, increase self-respect, get friends, and improve their relationships.Emotion Regulation
This 7-week group focuses on changing or getting rid of unwanted emotions. This group is especially valuable for those individuals who feel emotionally vulnerable. An emotionally vulnerable person is: 1) highly sensitive to emotional stimuli or events in their life, 2) has intense emotional reactions to life events, and 3) experiences a slow return to their emotional baseline (or where they started before they were emotionally stimulated). The participant will also learn how to identify their emotions and change unwanted emotions while being effective and skillful.Mindfulness
These concepts are taught and included in the first 2 sessions of each group module. The participants are taught that mindfulness is awareness. Participants practice improving awareness of their emotional, physical, and verbal reactions in their daily environments and many other occurrences in life. Mindfulness is the foundation for skillfulness in all areas of life – which is why it is emphasized in each module.Walk The Middle Path
This 6-week group focuses on caregiver and child validation techniques, understanding opposite points of view, and working on changing painful or difficult thoughts and emotions. The group also focuses on helping participants accept themselves, others, and circumstances as they are in the moment. The participants will discuss care-giving styles with clear rules and follow-through, combined with a flexible and democratic style, where discussion is encouraged. The participants will also explore what healthy adjustments in adolescent development looks like.
Telephone Skills Coaching
(Brief Phone Call)
Available to the participants and their caregivers when they are not in individual, family, or skills group sessions. The adolescent’s coaching call is with their individual DBT therapist, and the caregiver’s coaching calls are with the Multi-Family skills group leader. Telephone skills coaching is designed as a way to support the participants during the week in using their skills effectively.
Consultation to the Therapist
(Weekly Between Therapists)
A service for the therapist, between therapists, that is used to strengthen and continually improve the DBT therapists’ knowledge and experience in treating participants. At least once per week, DBT therapists meet together to provide consultation to each other on DBT therapy, on particular DBT skills, and as a support in providing excellent psychotherapy services to The DBT Center participant.
Still wondering if DBT for teenagers and caregivers is for you?
Ask yourself…
- Does your teen worry about being in the “right” relationship, saying the “right” thing and/or feeling shame about not being in relationships?
- Do you or your teen often think, “I’m not sure I can handle this life. Why does this keep happening to me?”
- Do you often hear your teen say, “Why don’t my friends or family understand me?”
- Has your teen ever said, “There is no way I will raise my hand in class. Everyone will judge me.” Or, “No one understands me and I don’t know how to make them understand me.”
- As a caregiver, do you worry about being “too harsh” or “too lenient”? Or, making a mistake that “ruins” your relationship with your teen?
…if this sounds like you, we have some solutions for you, and we are here to talk.