Most people in shortage areas have never had access to therapy, so online therapy is your first experience with it. That's totally fine and normal. Your therapist will explain how it works. You're not expected to know what you're doing. Starting therapy for the first time at 35 or 50 because it's finally accessible is completely normal in shortage areas.

Sometimes. Psychiatrists (MDs) often charge more than licensed therapists. Among therapists, rates vary more by experience, location, and specialization than by credential type (LCSW vs. LPC vs. LMFT). There's no universal pricing based on credential letters.

Complex trauma has a wide impact. It can create widespread life impacts from relationships, work, identity, emotions, to physical health. Complex PTSD includes difficulty trusting/connecting with others, negative self concept, dissociation, and even feeling fundamentally damaged. Multiple traumas need processing and rebuilding a sense of self is gradual. Addressing these challenges in phases incrementally can be helpful. Complex trauma developed over years and can take substantial time to heal. Therapy addresses the whole picture and meaningful improvement is absolutely possible with specialized treatment.

Therapy is an alternative or complement. Many people do therapy by itself or reduce medication as therapy takes effect. So, it’s really a function of your personal needs.

Lack of motivation is a depression symptom, not a barrier to treatment. The therapist doesn't expect you to feel motivated from the start and therapy works with you exactly where you are. You can attend sessions with low energy and no motivation and the therapist helps you take small actions anyway incrementally. Over time, activity increases, mood improves, and motivation returns. It can be hard work initially, but it’s worth it.

That's what DBT addresses, building tolerance for emotions and reducing reactivity. Emotional intensity is a primary BPD symptom and DBT teaches critical emotion regulation skills. DBT helps you understand emotions, decrease suffering from emotions, and change emotions. Many people with BPD describe emotions as overwhelming and more intense than the situation warrants. Treatment teaches you to make effective decisions despite intense feelings and reduce intensity through skills over time. Through a consistent practice of DBT skills, most people notice a gradual decrease in emotional intensity.

DBT is pretty structured, which honestly works great for many people and feels stifling for some. If you're someone who needs flexibility and doesn't do well with worksheets and acronyms, full traditional DBT might not fit. But you can still use individual skills that help without doing the whole program. Or try DBT-informed therapy which incorporates the principles more flexibly. Some people need structure when they're in crisis but find it too rigid once they've stabilized. That's fine, take what works and leave the rest. DBT isn't the only effective therapy, it's one approach among many.

Opposite action means doing the opposite of what your emotion is urging you to do, but only when the emotion doesn't fit the facts or acting on it would make things worse. If you're scared but there's no real danger, approach rather than avoid. If you're sad and want to isolate, get active and reach out to people. If you're angry inappropriately, be kind instead of attacking. If you're ashamed of something that's not actually shameful, share it instead of hiding. This works because acting opposite to the emotion eventually changes the emotion itself, emotions are partly driven by behavior. Avoiding makes fear worse, approaching reduces it. Isolating makes depression worse, connecting reduces it. Opposite action is incredibly hard to do because it feels completely wrong in the moment, but it's one of the most powerful DBT skills.

Phone, tablet, or computer with internet access. That's it. You can also print and download the worksheets to review offline at your convenience as well.

The DBT Self-Guided Program is a structured online program teaching Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills you can learn and practice independently without live therapist sessions. You get lifetime access to comprehensive video therapist recordings, worksheets, practice exercises, and resources teaching the four DBT skill modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. The main benefit of the program is the ability to watch the video sessions at your own pace, and there’s a year's worth of videos (e.g. 48 videos with each one corresponding to a specific topic being addressed). The program is self-paced and meant to be completed on your own schedule. The content is professionally developed by licensed therapists who specialize in DBT and follows the evidence-based DBT curriculum. It's designed for people who want to learn DBT skills on their own at their own pace, or for additional accountability to adhere to DBT skills in conjunction with DBT therapy. Through watching and rewatching the videos, as well as reviewing all the worksheets, you’ll learn the material independently.

It's designed for individual skill-building. Some couples find working through the material together strengthens their relationship while others prefer learning independently then discussing applications.Couples therapy would be better for relationship work specifically, though learning these skills individually could certainly help your relationship. DBT skills support healthy relationships and improved communication.

No. This is an educational program, not crisis services. For emergencies, call 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), text "HELLO" to 741741 (Crisis Text Line), or go to the nearest emergency room. If you frequently experience crises, you need ongoing therapy with crisis access, not just the DBT self-guided program. So if you find yourself having frequent crises it means that you need more intensive care that consists of some degree of both individual therapy and group therapy that is focused on DBT.