DBT Therapy near Marietta, Roswell & Atlanta
We offer provides compassionate support, practical strategies, and a deeper understanding of your child's needs.
Are You Curious How Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Can Help You?
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based, skills-focused approach that helps individuals learn practical tools for managing intense emotions, coping with chronic stress, improving relationships, and handling difficult situations more effectively.
People often seek DBT when their emotions feel overwhelming and difficult to manage. Rather than simply talking about problems in therapy sessions, DBT teaches specific skills that clients can practice in their daily lives.
Sessions often focus on learning and applying skills related to emotional regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and communication. Clients work closely with their therapist to identify challenges, practice new coping strategies, and review what is and isn't working so they can continue building skills over time.
What Issues Can DBT Help With?
DBT has shown significant improvements across a wide range of mental disorders, including self-harm, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance use disorder, depression, eating disorders, and anxiety. Effectiveness has been seen across age populations from adolescence to older adulthood.
The skills learned in DBT also help with the circumstances and impact of these mental health issues, like relationship conflict, impulsive behaviors, emotional dysregulation, or feeling out of control during stressful situations.
For instance, DBT strengthens relationships by improving communication, teaching how to respect boundaries, and helping with addressing conflict. DBT can be more effective than other therapy modalities because of its focus on behavioral changes through building and utilizing coping skills, regulating intense emotions, and tolerating distress.
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How DBT Works
With the guidance of their therapist, DBT sessions teach clients to radically accept things outside of their control while working towards improving life in areas that can be controlled through practical and skills-based strategies. Additionally, rather than prioritizing insight and processing, as often happens with other psychotherapy modalities, DBT focuses on teaching and utilizing concrete skills so that clients see tangible improvements in life. The DBT skills learned in therapy can help improve self-esteem, increase the ability to cope with stress, and help achieve personal goals.
DBT is unique in its approach because it combines acceptance and change. The "dialectical" in DBT means: two opposing truths or ideas can both be valid at the same time. It is a philosophical approach that helps clients move away from rigid, black-and-white "either/or" thinking, and guides them toward a balanced, flexible "both/and" middle path.
It offers specific skills to help stay in the present moment, tolerate distress, and regulate emotions. By fostering balance, acceptance, and meaning, DBT can have a profoundly positive impact on one’s overall outlook on life.
DBT’s Four Sets of Skills:
Clients who utilize DBT develop greater self-awareness, strengthen emotional resiliency, improve interpersonal relationships, and work towards “a life worth living.”
There are four sets of skills that are discussed in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT):
- Mindfulness: being able to judge yourself and your surroundings in a non-judgmental way and becoming aware of physical and mental triggers that cause emotions.
- Distress Tolerance: dealing with painful emotions and tolerating the distress associated with them.
- Emotion Regulation: recognizing when an emotion is unproductive and trying to change it to a more productive emotion.
- Interpersonal Skills: learning to communicate more effectively and becoming comfortable saying no.
DBT At Awaken Counseling
Our counselors provide encouragement, optimism, and support when beginning DBT sessions with new clients. We like to think we hold onto hope until our clients are ready to carry it themselves. In the short term, DBT provides practical, easy-to-use skills immediately that can be applied in real time to manage emotions and reduce distress.
In the long term, consistent practice and use of DBT skills can create meaningful changes in one’s ability to cope with life’s challenges. Recovery and growth do not happen overnight, but with time, effort, and support, clients can build healthier patterns and create a life that feels more balanced and purposeful.
Gaining Insight And Therapeutic Expertise With DBT
Our clinicians have received training in DBT through graduate education, continuing education, specialized workshops, and clinical experience in settings where DBT is commonly used, including outpatient counseling, group therapy, and higher levels of care.
Awaken Counseling’s approach to DBT is personalized and client-centered, and we tailor treatment to meet the unique needs of each individual. We believe in taking the time to truly understand our clients, delving into who they are, empathetically exploring their experiences, and identifying their goals. Many clients, especially adolescents and teens, benefit from having concrete tools they can immediately apply in their daily lives.
We Provide A Multifaceted And Holistic Approach
Unlike adhering strictly to a predefined DBT regimen, we recognize that clients come to us with diverse backgrounds, challenges, and goals, and they need a flexible approach. While drawing from the proven effectiveness of DBT skills, we may also integrate elements of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), active listening, client-centered therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy. This allows us to address the unique aspects of each client's situation and is part of our comprehensive and tailored approach to treatment.
We have seen how effective DBT can be in helping individuals manage intense emotions, cope with stress, improve relationships, and navigate challenging situations. We look forward to helping new clients achieve the same goals, providing the confidence to regain control of their lives.
But Maybe You’re Not Sure If DBT Therapy Is Right For You…
Reach Out To Discuss DBT With Awaken Counseling
To discuss DBT therapy and find out how it can help, contact us to schedule a free 15-minute call. We’ve seen how this process can bring about change for people from adolescence to late adulthood, learning to manage a variety of mental health concerns, and it all starts by taking the first step in reaching out.
[1] https://www.abct.org/fact-sheets/attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder/
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6477889/
