DBT treatment for depression and suicidal ideation/self harm

If you are suffering from depression, there are often many things that become difficult to do which impact your motivation to do anything. Depression, like many mental health disorders, is a chemical imbalance in the brain. DBT therapy has specific behavioral interventions that are designed to change your brain chemistry to directly impact the way your brain is naturally operating when you are depressed. Through this treatment, we will help you improve your depressive symptoms, and help you get to a point where you have hope again and build the life that you want. In DBT, one of the core parts of our foundation is helping you build a life worth living. Often times, people that come to us are extremely depressed, have lost hope, and have attempted suicide, or have extreme suicidal ideation. DBT is the treatment to address such suicidal ideation while keeping out of a hospital setting. Since you will have access to 24/7 hour phone coaching, you will be able to call or text your therapist when you are having suicidal thoughts and you will be given specific skills to reduce your suicidal ideation. The same concept goes for self harming behaviors. You can call or text your therapist any time if you are having urges for self harm. You will be given skills to reduce your self harming urges as well.

Beginning therapy is something that can feel very anxiety provoking at times. If you suffer from anxiety, we understand this very well and offer an ease into the therapy that feels tolerable for you. We will meet you where you are and help you navigate through your fears. The way DBT therapy approaches anxiety disorders is through certain exposure therapies that are scientifically proven to help reduce anxiety symptoms. We have cognitive and behavioral interventions to address anxiety at its core. DBT also had strategies to help you stop panic attacks when they happen by changing your brain chemistry. You will also have access to 24/7 hour phone coaching if you are in a midst of a panic attack, or if you are suicidal and are in need skills to regulate your anxiety symptoms. 

DBT therapy will also address symptoms of bipolar. If you suffer from bipolar, you have already experienced polar extremes of depression and mania that can sometimes (and usually) become very life threatening, such as experiencing suicidal ideation.  In DBT treatment, we will help you identify the warning signs to when you are bordering on the extreme or depression or mania. We will create individualized treatment plans for how to cope with each extremes of depression and the variants of the way it manifests in your life. We will teach you ways to improve your mood and to help you become more emotionally regulated. When you are experiencing mania, we will create ways to regulate your mood and teach you ways control specific impulses that you identify to be problematic. You will have access to 24/7 hour phone coaching when you are experiencing low moods such as depression, or if you are experiencing symptoms of mania. 

DBT therapy is the treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). If you have BPD, you have probably been told that there is no medical intervention to address this disorder and were likely recommended DBT treatment. Through specific behavioral interventions, you will learn ways to navigate the difficult relationships in your life, while balancing your self worth, and learning to ask for what you need in an appropriate manner. You will also learn specific DBT skills that will give you relief when you emotions and/or suicidal urges are increasing in the midst of distress. We will evaluate your goals and your objectives as it relates to reducing the symptoms of BPD that are taking over your life and getting in the way of keeping healthy relationships. You will have access to 24/7 hour phone coaching if you are having urges or impulses that will destroy your life or relationships.

DBT therapy address trauma through Prolonged Exposure (DBT PE), which is an evidence based therapy that relives symptoms of PTSD and trauma symptoms. This treatment takes about 12-14 weeks to complete after a client has accomplished behavioral and emotional control. DBT PE is designed to help you recover from trauma and relieve your PTSD symptoms, such as suicidal ideation, flashbacks, panic attacks, etc that are associated with the trauma in order to have less of a hinderance on your life.