Getting Started:
Because of the personal dedication, sacrifice and effort required to successfully complete San Jose DBT’s Dialectical Behavior Therapy program, applicants are generally required to complete 3-4 individual DBT Orientation and Commitment session as part of the assessment process. Some exceptions to this can be made depending on a client’s previous experience with DBT in other settings.
Orientation and commitment sessions are individual DBT Psychotherapy sessions designed to help clients:
- Understand the full DBT program
- Understand the goals and processes of the treatment
- Understand how the treatment will target and treat the client’s specific behaviors and experiences
- Understand the client and therapist’s roles in the treatments
- Answer any questions clients have about DBT
- Make a commitment to the treatment
Stage One
- Decreasing or eliminating life-threatening behaviors (suicide attempts, suicidal thinking, self-injury, homicidal and aggressive behaviors)
- Decreasing or eliminating therapy-interfering behaviors (missing sessions, not doing homework, behaving in a way that burns others out)
- Reducing or eliminating hospitalization as a way of handling crisis
- Decreasing behaviors that interfere with the quality of life (eating disorders, not going to work or school, addiction, chronic unemployment)
- Increasing behaviors that will enable the person to have a life worth living
- Increasing behavioral skills that help to build relationships, manage emotions and deal effectively with various life problems
Stage Two
- Continuing and building on Stage One skills
- Targeting and decreasing symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other Anxiety or Depression related symptoms
Stage Three
- Increasing love and respect for self and others
- Affirming individual life goals
- Solving ordinary life problems
- Developing the capacity for freedom and joy
- Creating a life worth living!
Visit our resources page for more information on Dialectical Behavior Therapy and DBT Skills Training. Call (408) 351-8785 for more information or contact us for a free 15-minute telephone consultation.
Click HERE for more information on DBT Skills for couples!