Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based approach that helps people better understand and manage intense emotions, relationship challenges, anxiety, overwhelm, and patterns that keep them feeling stuck. DBT combines practical coping skills with deeper emotional insight, helping you build a life that feels more balanced, grounded, and authentic.
DBT focuses on four core areas: mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. In therapy, you’ll learn how to navigate difficult emotions without shutting down or becoming overwhelmed, communicate more effectively, and respond to stress with greater self-awareness and flexibility.
While DBT was originally developed to treat chronic emotional dysregulation, it can also be incredibly helpful for high-functioning people who appear capable on the outside while privately struggling with anxiety, perfectionism, burnout, self-criticism, or relationship patterns. The goal isn’t just to “cope better,” but to help you feel more connected to yourself and more confident in how you move through life.
I have extensive training in DBT and have worked on comprehensive DBT teams at Stanford Medicine, Children's Health Council, and Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Comprehensive DBT is a highly structured treatment model that typically includes multiple components: weekly individual therapy, a weekly DBT skills group, between-session coaching support, and ongoing consultation among providers. Because it is designed to be delivered by an entire treatment team, comprehensive DBT is usually offered within larger clinics, hospitals, or specialty programs rather than individual private practices.
In my private practice, I offer DBT-informed individual therapy, meaning I integrate many of the evidence-based skills and strategies from DBT into our work together in a more flexible and individualized way. Depending on your needs, this may include building skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, boundaries, communication, and managing intense emotions or self-criticism. This approach allows therapy to feel both practical and deeply personalized while still drawing from the structure and effectiveness of DBT.
