Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

If you’re feeling down in the dumps, hopeless, anxious, or helpless, turn to Spectrum Behavioral Health in New Lenox and Hinsdale, Illinois. The experienced psychiatry team offers dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and other therapies to help you overcome mental health challenges and live your best life. Schedule an in-person or virtual psychiatric evaluation today at Spectrum Behavioral Health by phone or online.

What is DBT?

DBT stands for dialectical behavioral therapy. It’s a form of talk therapy designed to help people who experience intense emotions, including those suffering from borderline personality disorder and similar conditions. If you suspect you or a loved one has a mental health problem, see the Spectrum Behavioral Health team for an evaluation.

What does DBT consist of?

DBT is based on cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) but is adapted to specific types of mental health disorders. This therapy can help you better understand how your thoughts affect your behaviors and emotions. DBT enables you to accept realities and change those parts of your life that drag you down.

What can DBT help treat?

DBT can help treat:

• Depression
• Anxiety
• Eating disorders
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Borderline personality disorder
• Suicidal thoughts or behaviors
• Self-harm
• Substance use disorder

These and other disorders stem from problematic or unhealthy intense emotions. DBT teaches ideal ways to cope with life’s challenges. It can improve your mood, thoughts, behaviors, and overall quality of life.

DBT helps reduce episodes of self-harm, ongoing sadness or anxiety, unhealthy eating patterns, flashbacks, nightmares, compulsions, and obsessions.

Am I a candidate for DBT?

The Spectrum Behavioral Health team completes a comprehensive psychiatric evaluation to determine which therapy you’re a candidate for. They discuss your emotions, thoughts, behaviors, lifestyle, and mood. Your therapist asks about your medical history and current medications.

What happens during DBT?

During DBT, your therapist helps you overcome problematic emotions in a safe, healthy way. They help you balance accepting yourself and making beneficial lifestyle changes. You also learn effective emotion-regulation skills.

You might meet with a therapist at one of the Spectrum Behavioral Health offices or virtually from your home. They can visit with you individually or as a couple, family, or group.

Spectrum Behavioral Health offers other forms of therapy, including CBT and eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).

In addition to DBT, you might take medication and make lifestyle changes to better manage a mental health disorder and maximize your quality of life.

Schedule an in-person or virtual psychiatric evaluation at Spectrum Behavioral Health today by phone or online to determine if DBT is right for you.