Therapies
Dialectical behavior therapy in Ohio
Skills training for people whose emotional reactions are fast and hard to control: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Taught in therapy group, applied in individual sessions.
- Also called
- DBT
- Where
- Columbus, Dayton
- Admissions
- (614) 665-8878
The DBT approach
Dialectical behavior therapy was developed by Marsha Linehan for people with severe emotional reactivity and chronic suicidal thoughts, after standard cognitive behavioral therapy proved a poor fit. Dialectical means two things held true at once: you are doing the best you can with what you have, and something has to change. DBT keeps both in the room.
At Leora, DBT is part of drug and alcohol treatment. The skills are taught in group and applied in individual sessions, with two aims: coping with strong emotions without drinking or using, and repairing relationships that substance use has strained.
The four skill sets
The teaching is organized into four sets of skills.
- Mindfulness: noticing what is happening, including your own state, without reacting immediately
- Distress tolerance: getting through a bad hour without doing something that makes the next day worse
- Emotion regulation: naming an emotion accurately and acting opposite to an urge that does not fit the facts
- Interpersonal effectiveness: asking for something or refusing it while keeping the relationship and your self respect
A DBT session
A skills group looks more like a class than a therapy circle. There is a handout and a sequence, you try the skill before the next session, and you are not asked to disclose much. Role play and behavioral rehearsal let you practice a skill on a situation you expect to face before it happens. Individual work is where an incident gets taken apart, walking backward through a moment link by link to find where a different move was available. Clinicians validate before they push. Many programs use a diary card, a short daily record of urges, emotions and skills used. Skills group is not the place for a detailed trauma narrative. That work belongs in individual sessions with a clinician who knows your history.
Conditions and research
DBT was developed and first tested with people living with chronic suicidal thoughts and self harm, many of them diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. Trials found fewer self harm episodes and fewer hospital stays. Adapted versions have since been studied for substance use, eating disorders and post traumatic stress disorder.
- Borderline personality disorder, where the American Psychological Association rates the research support as strong
- Substance use that follows emotional spikes more than planning, where emotion regulation and distress tolerance get the most use
- Depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder alongside substance use, as one part of a co-occurring treatment plan
- A history of trauma, with the skills used to manage what comes up while detailed trauma work stays in individual sessions
Skills training and full DBT
Full DBT as researched has four components: weekly individual therapy, a weekly skills group, phone coaching between sessions, and a therapist consultation team. Programs teaching the skills inside another treatment structure are usually called DBT informed, and evidence for skills training alone is more limited than the evidence for the full model. Ask at your assessment which parts run here.
DBT at Leora
- Partial hospitalization
- 5 days a week, about 6 hours a day, 4 hours of group, 1 hour of relapse prevention, 1 hour of nurse education, lunch provided
- Intensive outpatient
- 3 to 5 days a week, 3 hours a day, 9 to 15 hours a week
- Outpatient
- 1 to 2 days a week, 2 hours of group
- Virtual intensive outpatient
- DBT fully remote anywhere in Ohio, with morning, afternoon and evening sessions
- Individual sessions
- 1 to 2 a week in partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient
- Medication
- nurse practitioner weekly in partial hospitalization, every 2 to 3 weeks in intensive outpatient and outpatient
- Group leaders
- licensed clinicians holding LCDCIII, LICDC, LSW, LISW, LPC and LPCC credentials
- Setting
- outpatient only, no beds, no overnight care. If someone needs supervision this setting cannot give, the assessment says so directly
- Walk-ins
- welcome at both facilities
Common questions
Does Leora run comprehensive DBT with phone coaching?
Do I need a borderline personality disorder diagnosis to be offered DBT skills?
What is a diary card?
Is DBT group where I talk about my trauma?
Can I do DBT while taking medication?
Where this is offered
Hope inspired
Talk to admissions about the right next step.
Outpatient addiction and mental health treatment in Columbus and Dayton, Ohio, from ambulatory detox to outpatient therapy groups. Walk-ins welcome. Call now, or leave your number and admissions will call you back.
