• The Lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the thickest, deepest mud.
    Zen Proverb

  • Since everything is a reflection of our Minds …
    Everything can be changed by our minds.

    Buddha

  • Wherever you are, that is the entry point.
    Kabir, 15th-century Indian poet

  • Learning how to live deeply in each moment of our daily life is our true practice.
    Thich Nhat Hanh

  • If light is in your heart, you will find your way home.
    Rumi

  • When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.
    Helen Keller, We Bereaved, 1929

  • Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them humanity cannot survive.
    His Holiness the Dalai Lama

  • With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
    Eleanor Roosevelt

We are a private group practice, offering Dialectical Behavior Therapy
in South Bay, Torrance CA

What is DBT?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based therapy that uses dialectical strategies and mindfulness to help change behaviors that prevent people from leading a life worth living.

Dialectics is a way of observing how two views that may seem contradictory can coexist and finding the synthesis between the seeming contradictions. Dialectics moves us away from the all-or-nothing thinking that can keep people from solving problems effectively. In DBT the emphasis is on the dialectic balance between acceptance and change; though these concepts seem opposite, we need to flow between the two to get out of our “stuck” places. By both accepting things we can’t change and changing what is in our control, we can better reach our goals.

Behavior Therapy focuses on how and why people learn certain behaviors. As we respond to events in our life, we develop behaviors that help us cope. Some of these behaviors may no longer be useful to us, but they are habits. Other behaviors may be very effective to relieve pain in the moment, but have long-term consequences that cause chaos. Behavior therapy focuses on understanding the ineffective behaviors and replacing them with behaviors that help people reach their goals.

Mindfulness is a practice that helps us learn to control our mind instead of our mind being in control of us. Mindfulness helps us keep a present-moment orientation so that the pain of the past and the worries of the future are not clouding what is happening in this one moment.

Road to a life worth living

Services Offered

A full DBT treatment program involves four key elements :

  • Individual Therapy
  • Skills Training Groups
  • Coaching Calls
  • Therapist Consultation Team

ADULT DBT PROGRAM

For adults who struggle with emotion dysregulation and behaviors that decrease quality of life. This program enables people to gain control over emotions and behaviors and to engage in healthier relationships.

  • Individual Therapy.
  • Skills training group.
  • Coaching calls (consultation with therapist between sessions).
  • Therapist consultation team.

ADOLESCENT DBT PROGRAM

For adolescents who feel overwhelmed by their emotions and are struggling to cope with life’s challenges and changes. This program enables adolescents to gain control over emotions and behaviors and help families navigate the challenges of moving through adolescence into adulthood.

  • Individual Therapy for the adolescent
  • Multi-family skills training group for the adolescent and one or two adults involved in the daily life of the adolescent
  • Coaching calls (consultation with therapist between sessions)
  • Therapist consultation team

ADVANCED DBT PROGRAM

For adults who are at Stage 2 of DBT treatment and have completed at least 2 cycles of the Basic Skills Training. Participants will work at reinforcing the skills learned in the Adult DBT Program, and going into more depth with other evidence-based practices to help them reach their life worth living goals.

  • Individual Therapy
  • Advanced skills training group
  • Coaching calls (consultation with therapist between sessions)
  • Therapist consultation team

FRIENDS AND FAMILY GROUP: LEARN TO RIDE THE WAVES OF LIFE TOGETHER AS WE LEARN TO BALANCE ACCEPTANCE AND CHANGE.

  • Learn about DBT’s biosocial theory and maintenance of your loved one’s problems
  • Learn DBT based skills around mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness
  • Learn ways to balance validation (focusing on acceptance) and problem-solving (focus on change)
  • Decrease feelings of isolation, loneliness, and hopelessness
  • Discuss loved ones’ high risk behaviors and how to be effective in dealing with behaviors

LEARN TO SURF THE TIDES OF EMOTIONS: LIFE SKILLS FOR HIGH SCHOOL TO COLLEGE TRANSITION

  • This is a 10-week workshop designed for recent high school graduates and college students.
  • Learn how to get through stress without making it worse
  • Learn how to understand what emotions are communicating and how to act on them to get closer to your life goals.
  • Increase daily happiness
  • Learn how to have satisfying relationships

Call us at (310) 373-1823 to reserve your spot!

OUR INDIVIDUAL SESSIONSDBT SKILLS TRAINING GROUPSFAMILY SKILLS
$250$100
$175
per 50-minute hourper group sessionper group, which covers two participants
Individual SessionAdult DBT Skills Training Group

Advanced DBT Skills Training Group

Multi Family Skills

Single Family Skills (additional fee)

From Our Blog

Meet the Team

KARI BARKER

M.S., LMFT 39947

MAYA SUTTA-GOMEZ

M.S.W.

DR. CAROL SEIXAS

PSYD., OTR/L., LCSW 21390

Brittany Mullan

BRITTANY MULLAN

M.A.

Samantha Reitz

SAMANTHA REITZ

M.S.

Learn about the team at DBT Center of the South Bay.

    Employment Opportunities

    Contact us for more information about our program and services.  We will get back to you within 1 business day.  We look forward to hearing from you.

    DBT Centerof the South Bay
    23717 Hawthorne Blvd.
    Suite 102
    Torrance, CA 90505

    (310) 373-1823

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      Contact Us

      Contact us for more information about our program and services.  We will get back to you within 1 business day.  We look forward to hearing from you.

      DBT Centerof the South Bay
      23717 Hawthorne Blvd.
      Suite 102
      Torrance, CA 90505

      (310) 373-1823

      © 2021 DBT Center of the South Bay | DBT Therapy | Individual, Adolescent and Family Therapy | Torrance | Los Angeles