Las Vegas, NV · Torrance, CA
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)
DBT is one of the most effective treatments available for people who feel overwhelmed by intense emotions, react in ways they later regret, or notice painful patterns repeating despite their best efforts. It is structured, evidence-based, and built for lasting change.
What Is DBT?
DBT grew out of work with people experiencing chronic emotional distress, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts. What started as a focused treatment has become one of the most effective approaches for emotion dysregulation, Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), trauma-related symptoms, and ongoing relationship difficulties.
DBT is especially helpful when emotions feel overwhelming, reactions happen quickly, and painful patterns keep repeating despite insight or effort.
Who Is DBT Designed For?
DBT is designed for people who feel overwhelmed by intense emotions, react in ways they later regret, or notice painful patterns repeating in their relationships and daily life.
It is often recommended when insight alone hasn’t been enough — when more structure, skill-building, and support are needed to create meaningful change.
While DBT is well known for treating Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), it is also effective for trauma-related symptoms, chronic depression, anxiety, dissociation, and other difficulties involving emotion and behavior regulation.
How DBT Works
“Dialectical” refers to the idea that two seemingly opposite things can both be true at the same time. In DBT, this shows up in the balance between acceptance and change:
“I’m doing the best I can.” “And I still need to learn new ways to cope.”
Holding both truths reduces all-or-nothing thinking and creates space for growth.
“Behavior” reflects DBT’s focus on identifying patterns — especially behaviors that increase suffering or interfere with your goals — and learning more effective responses.
DBT is a structured, supportive treatment that combines compassion with accountability — not just a set of skills or a self-help approach.
What Does Comprehensive DBT Include?
Comprehensive DBT is the full, evidence-based model. It provides the structure and consistency many people need when emotions feel unmanageable, behaviors feel risky, or patterns have been difficult to change through traditional therapy alone.
Comprehensive DBT includes four components working together:
Individual DBT Therapy — A structured, collaborative space to examine patterns that are keeping you stuck, understand why they developed, and build more effective ways of responding.
DBT Skills Training — Learning and practicing tools across four core areas: Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance, and Interpersonal Effectiveness.
Between-Session Support (Phone Coaching) — Brief support between sessions to help you apply DBT skills in the moments when you need them most.
DBT Consultation Team — A required component of full-fidelity DBT. A structured team of DBT-trained clinicians meets regularly to ensure treatment remains consistent with the model and clinically effective.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between DBT and regular talk therapy?
Traditional talk therapy is valuable — and for many people, it’s exactly what they need. DBT is a different kind of treatment. Talk therapy tends to focus on insight, understanding, and processing. DBT does that too, and it adds a structured, goal-directed layer that traditional therapy often doesn’t include.
For people who have been in therapy and feel stuck — who understand their patterns and still can’t shift them — DBT often creates movement in a way that insight-focused therapy alone hasn’t been able to.
Can DBT help with trauma?
DBT and trauma treatment work well together, and in many cases, they are part of the same treatment plan.
DBT is often the starting point when trauma is present alongside significant emotion dysregulation, self-harm, or behaviors that interfere with safety. The skills DBT builds — particularly in emotion regulation and distress tolerance — create the stability needed to approach trauma processing safely.
Once that stability is established, trauma-focused approaches such as EMDR or DBT-Prolonged Exposure (DBT-PE) can be integrated directly into treatment. If trauma is part of your history, we’ll determine together what the right sequence and combination of approaches looks like for you.
What disorders can be treated with DBT?
DBT is now considered an evidence-based treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD, substance use disorders, eating disorders, self-harming behaviors, bipolar disorder, and ADHD.
Even when someone doesn’t meet criteria for a specific diagnosis, DBT may still be the right approach — particularly for intense emotions, chaotic relationships, impulsive behaviors, or chronic feelings of emptiness.
How long does DBT typically last?
DBT is designed as a comprehensive treatment, and the standard commitment is approximately one year. Full DBT includes weekly individual therapy, weekly skills training, phone coaching as needed, and therapist participation in a consultation team.
Many clients benefit from completing the skills cycle twice — the first time to learn and build familiarity, the second to deepen application. The timeline depends on your goals, your progress, and what will genuinely move you forward. We assess together as we go.
Ready to Explore Whether DBT Is Right for You?
The first step is a conversation. During a free telephone consultation, we’ll talk through what you’re experiencing and determine whether DBT — or another approach — makes sense for your needs.
