Parenting is hard! The various responsibilities a parent juggles throughout their child’s life feels endless at times. This can make ensuring your child feels heard and understood while maintaining your rules and limits seem almost impossible. Luckily, there is something that you can do that helps you achieve all these goals – validation. Validation: What … Read more
Despite their reputation as complicated and often inconvenient, emotions are as common, and as essential, to the human experience as breathing. But what are they? Despite psychologists’ many attempts, developing a clear and comprehensive definition of emotion has proved challenging. Dr. Marsha Linehan, the founder and developer of DBT, describes emotions as “brief, involuntary, full-system, … Read more
Welcome to a new series, TikTok Trends! We’re looking at popular trends on TikTok that can positively and effectively benefit our mental health. Remember: no social media account, even a licensed professional, replaces actual therapy and should only be used for entertainment purposes. Scrolling on TikTok the other night, I stumbled upon a sound from … Read more
In General, does DBT Work? Yes. Okay, I guess I can go into more detail. As either a potential new client or a current client doing some research, here’s the good news: DBT is one of the most well studied psychotherapies. What this means for you, then, is that there is actual research, actual evidence, … Read more
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was created by Dr. Marsha Linehan in the 1970s and 1980s for the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and is one of few evidence-based treatments for BPD. Due to the effectiveness of treating BPD, more research was done for other psychiatric disorders like mood disorders, PTSD, and substance use disorders. DBT … Read more
Sometimes our brains can be our own worst enemies. Our brains are hardwired to see the negative in every situation and that can lead to a lot of difficult emotions. When this happens, it can be easy to go into a downward spiral- not just thinking about the negative thoughts but believing them to be … Read more
Many people who seek out DBT are grappling with behaviors that led them to living lives they find miserable and small. Behaviors such as: Suicidal ideation and wanting to die Self-harm, such as cutting, burning, skin picking Substance abuse Chronic stress in relationships or not having relationships you want Compulsive sexual behavior Disordered eating And … Read more
It is probably not much of a stretch to say that we have all struggled to get sleep from time to time. Sometimes lack of sleep can be attributed to illness, aches or pains, a lumpy mattress, or insomnia. Other times, it is because it feels like your brain just won’t just shut down, your … Read more
When investing time, energy, and resources into an evidence-based psychotherapy, a person seeking services can greatly benefit from receiving information regarding the competence of specific mental health therapists. Trying to gauge the competence of a therapist can be particularly elusive, as a consumer, in part due to a wide range of marketing efforts and claims … Read more
‘Tis the season when so many different holidays are being celebrated around the world. From Thanksgiving to Hanukkah, to Rosh Hashanah, to Christmas, there are so many holidays being celebrated. Most holidays have some elements in common—traditions being observed and celebrated with family and food. While this is a joyous time for many, those with … Read more