That's exactly why online therapy exists. If the nearest psychiatrist or therapist is two hours away and only taking new patients in six months, online therapy gets you help now. You're not limited to whatever one person happens to practice near you, you can access quality specialists, therapists with specific training, people who understand your particular issue. Distance doesn't matter with online care. This is genuinely one of the best uses of telehealth.

Therapy sessions are just therapy which includes talking with a therapist. Medication is entirely separate. If you need medication, you'd see a psychiatrist or psychiatric nurse practitioner. That's a different provider with a separate cost, plus prescription costs. At Grouport, we only do therapy, like group therapy, individual therapy, couples therapy, family therapy, combination of group and individual therapy, IOP, and a DBT self guided program. If you need medication management that would be done elsewhere and we can provide referrals for that.

Mindfulness creates space between the trigger and your response. Most anger management programs integrate mindfulness, but also focus on other CBT and DBT approaches. A regular mindfulness practice reduces overall reactivity especially during angry moments. Mindfulness should be part of but not replace comprehensive anger management treatment.

Trauma includes any event where you experienced or witnessed actual/threatened death, serious injury, or sexual violence. This can include war, assault, abuse, accidents, disasters, witnessing violence, sudden loss or anything overwhelming to the nervous system. It can be a single event or repeated that causes PTSD.

Anxiety being "mental" doesn't mean it isn't real. It's very real. Your brain's threat detection system is overly sensitive, creating anxiety out of proportion to perceived danger. Therapy retrains your brain's anxiety response over time. Just because anxiety doesn't have visible physical cause doesn't make it less real or less worthy of treatment. Anxiety is highly responsive to therapy, so even if it’s all in your head it’s worth seeking and actively participating in therapy.

BPD significantly impairs functioning through emotional dysregulation, relationship conflicts, and impulsivity that affects work/school performance. Functioning improves with treatment. Most people continue with their general life responsibilities while undergoing treatment and see incremental progress that makes things better little by little. As DBT progresses, workplace relationships typically become more manageable, productivity increases, and crisis-driven absences decrease. During intensive treatment, some people need reduced hours temporarily or medical leave. That said, many people can do intensive treatment while maintaining their regular responsibilities. Your therapist can help you strategize the treatment plan and what’s best for your needs and life situation.

Traditional DBT skills training takes about 6 months, you go through all four modules twice. But you can start using skills immediately, you don't need to complete the whole program before they're helpful. Some people get significant benefit in a few months. Others practice DBT skills for years, using them as ongoing life skills. The learning curve varies, some skills click immediately, others take months of practice before they become natural. Don't expect to master everything quickly. These are skills like playing an instrument, you get better with practice over time. So don't get discouraged if it feels awkward at first.

CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) focuses heavily on changing thoughts, identifying distorted thinking and replacing it with more realistic thoughts. DBT includes some cognitive work but emphasizes behavior change, emotional regulation, and acceptance. DBT has the dialectical component, holding opposites together (acceptance AND change). It also includes distress tolerance and mindfulness more centrally than standard CBT. DBT was developed for people who need more than what CBT provides, specifically people with intense emotions and self-destructive behaviors. For many issues of anxiety & depression, CBT is often sufficient. For emotion dysregulation, relationship chaos, and self-harm, DBT often works better.

Add therapy. Many people find the DBT self guided program tremendously helpful to master DBT skills at their own pace, but if you feel like you need additional personal guidance or help to establish accountability then its common to add a DBT skills group or online individual therapy with a DBT specialist. Through our platform, you can see a DBT therapist for personalized support in both individual sessions or online group therapy while using the self-guided program for structure. Some people are excellent self-teachers and learners on their own time, whereas others need external feedback. Neither is wrong, and it's important to match the learning format to what fits your needs best.

The program includes guidance and examples to keep you on track. So through that you should be able to assess if you’re practicing the skills correctly. Indicators you're on track include that you understand the skill's purpose and when to use it, you're noticing opportunities to apply it in daily life, and you're seeing some positive results through your practice. If you’re practicing correctly, skill use will become more natural over time. If you have a therapist, discuss with them your skill practice in sessions to see what they think as they may have additional helpful tips. It’s also important to trust that persistent practice leads to improvement even if execution isn't always perfect and it takes time to see progress.

Yes, there is a community forum that you get access to and through that community forum you can interact with others who also have done or are currently doing the DBT self guided program.