Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

Our Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Program is a highly structured form of behavioral therapy that teaches skills that can help you:

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  • Regulate emotions
  • Control self-destructive behaviors
  • Improve relationships

DBT was developed by Marsha Linehan, Ph.D at the University of Washington. DBT combines both cognitive-behavioral therapy (Western principles and practices) and mindfulness approaches (Eastern principles and practices) to help you understand, accept and change patterns that are causing you difficulties. 

What You Can Expect from DBT

Our DBT program is for adults 18 years old and over and lasts approximately six months to one year. Our program includes:

  • DBT individual therapy
  • DBT group skills training
  • In-between session coaching
  • DBT therapist weekly consultation meeting

How DBT Can Help You

Multiple research studies have shown that DBT can help to treat a wide range of disorders. DBT can help you:

  • Learn to be more motivated and live more fully
  • Improve your overall quality of life and create a more fulfilling life
  • Improve your ability to manage your emotions
  • Improve your communication and quality of your relationships
  • Decrease your self-destructive behaviors
  • Enhance your ability to get through crises
  • Decrease inpatient hospitalizations

How to Get Started

If you haven't received services from Memorial Outpatient Behavioral Health Center, you'll start by having an assessment with one of our therapists. You can:

  • Visit during our walk-in hours, Monday-Thursday from 8 am - 10 am 
  • Make an appointment by calling 954-276-3400

If you are a current patient at Memorial Outpatient Behavioral Health Center, you can attend a DBT orientation group meeting. Please see the front desk staff for details.

Our Location

Memorial Outpatient Behavioral Health Center
3400 N. 29th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33021

More About DBT

DBT has been shown to be an effective treatment for:

Emotional Difficulties

  • Heightened emotional sensitivity
  • Quick and intense emotional reactions
  • Slow return-to-normal mood
  • Chronic problems with depression, anxiety, anger or anger expression

Behavioral Difficulties

  • Repeated suicide threats or attempts
  • Self-harm behavior such as cutting and burning
  • Relationship difficulties including hypersensitivity to criticism, disapproval, intimacy or fear of abandonment
  • Impulsive and potentially self-destructive behavior in areas such as:
    • Binge eating and purging
    • Alcohol or drug abuse
    • Sexual promiscuity
    • Gambling or spending sprees

Thinking Difficulties

  • Extreme (black or white) thinking
  • Difficulty with solving problems or making decisions
  • Unstable self-image or sense of self
  • “Detached” thinking, ranging from mild problems with inattention to episodes of complete dissociation