**Currently accepting teenage girls (13-19) to a waitlist for future DBT group. [LGBTQ+ friendly]. To schedule, fill out our contact form.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a structured therapy using an educational component to teach skills for managing intense emotions and negotiating social relationships.
What diagnoses can be treated with DBT?
DBT will teach emotional regulation skills for depression, anxiety, PTSD, bulimia/binge eating disorder, substance use, bipolar symptoms, personality disorders and self-harming behavior.
Why should I join a group?
- Start While Wait-listed: We recommend doing DBT while you are on our waitlist for an individual therapist, especially if you are going to be working on trauma issues. DBT can give you tools that will help you in your individual work, and can make your individual treatment much more effective.
- Stand-Alone or Concurrent Treatment: DBT is also a great tool to use as a stand-alone therapy treatment, or to use the group concurrently with your individual sessions.
- Feedback and Support: You get feedback and support not only from the therapist, but from other group members who have similar issues.
- Budget-Friendly: Group costs substantially less than individual treatment. The average cost is $6.00 per group, depending on insurance plan, once deductible is met. Attending the group before or concurrently with individual will help you reach your therapy goals faster.
What is the DBT program?
- Group meets for an hour virtually once a week
- The group is “closed”. Once the module starts, the same handful of clients will be attending until it finishes.
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy has four structured modules. There is often homework between group sessions.
- We currently have two groups, including one for adolescent girls on Thursdays after school.
Modules
Mindfulness enables individuals to accept and be present in the current moment by noting the fleeting nature of emotions. This reduces negative experiences of feelings. It teaches you how to slow down your reactions so you have time to choose your responses thoughtfully.
Distress Tolerance teaches you the ability to tolerate negative emotions, rather than escape from them. This prevents harmful behaviors such as dissociating or avoiding, or acting in ways that make difficult situations worse.
Emotion Regulation teaches strategies. It gives individuals the power to manage and change intense emotions that are causing problems in their life.
Interpersonal Effectiveness teaches how to communicate with others in a way that is assertive, maintains self-respect, and strengthens relationships. A core principle is learning how to ask directly for what you want to reduce resentment and hurt feelings.
Group Leader: Sonia Zajmi, LMHC
Ms. Sonia Zajmi is a Dialectical Behavior Therapy specialist and has done both group and individual DBT work for many years.
To Join:
If you would like to join the group, fill out the contact form on the New Clients page. In the subject box, please indicate if you would like to do the group. You can also indicate you would like to do the group while you wait for an individual therapist. If filling out the form for an individual therapist too, also tell us what you want to work on. This will help us match you with a therapist with that expertise).
If you are already on our waitlist, please email us at admin@spencerpsychology.com. Indicate that you would like to be in the group as well. We will contact you to get started.
Joining the group will not impact your place on the waitlist, and your place in line for an individual therapist remains.