DBT State-Certified Program

LGBTQ+ DBT- skills group therapy and individual counseling

Evidence-based treatment to find your way through the jumble of thoughts and emotion-driven choices that destroy the life you've been trying to build. DBT helps you find your way through the most intense emotions. Chronic anxiety or a sense of emptiness that accompanies deep depression and everything in between.

DBT—AN OVERVIEW

DBT is a 2-Part program: Individual therapy (1hr/week) and Class/Skills Group (2.5hr/week).

Mental health can be a struggle when you haven't learned how to cultivate well-being—we teach that and then coach you through how to implement in your life.

Phone coaching is an invaluable resource you have while in this year-long program: 24/7 access to your therapist. You have access to phone coaching anytime you need help applying those skills you learned in class to your real life. Class/skills group is where therapists teach the skills you need to use to build a healthy mind and fulfilling life—as supported by decades of science (DBT is an evidence-based treatment)—everything you need to grow your mental health and well-being.

Healthy Minds therapists provide adherent DBT programming that follows the Marsha Linehan model of DBT and are certified by the Minnesota Mental Health Division—Department of Human Services (DHS). To ensure excellence in competency, we have been highly trained by Linehan’s company (Behavioral Tech) to ensure adherence to her model of DBT. We are experts in the field.

DBT USES A 4-PART FRAMEWORK TO TEACH:

What to do to practice Mindfulness (and how to do it), the skill set that combats distractability by increasing awareness.
When you are aware of the struggle, how to effectively tolerate the distress so you don't make a very difficult situation worse, the skill set that combats a loss of meaning/purpose—because how do we build the long-game life we want when satisfying our short-game wants to sabotage the build? Gotta learn how to tolerate distress.

How to regulate emotions. So you tolerated the distress of the moment/hour/day/week . . . and still feeling super crummy. This skillet combats the negative self-talk and enables insight into yourself.
How to have more effective and civil conversations around topics with high emotion. These interpersonal effectiveness skills come in handy when you have people in your life you deeply care about and intensely disagree with. This skillet combats loneliness/disconnection by increasing connection.

A MORE FORMAL DESCRIPTION

WHAT IS DIALECTICAL BEHAVIORAL THERAPY?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy often referred to as DBT, is a comprehensive therapy that incorporates elements of
cognitive-behavioral therapy with validation and acceptance principles to treat an individual with a wide range of
struggles. Created by Dr. Marsha Linehan in the 1980s, DBT is now a viable option for individuals struggling with a
variety of mental and chemical health concerns.

HOW DOES DIALECTICAL BEHAVIORAL THERAPY WORK?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a habit-based program. The class (group counseling) is a skills training portion where clients spend the first 10-15 minutes practicing the foundation of the whole program: mindfulness. It is foundational because nothing has a hope of changing if we aren’t aware of what’s happening right now. After mindfulness practice clients share their completed homework (each week clients learn a new skill or set of skills which they are then assigned to practice in-between classes). After homework share, we take a 15 min break, then reconvene for the teaching portion of Class. DBT skills combine concepts of mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness to help individuals experience real and lasting changes. Ultimately, the goal of DBT is to increase a person’s ability to successfully manage and regulate difficult and intense emotions, so they can make decisions that both align with their long-term goals and their deeply held values.

Through a blend of therapy and skills training, DBT enables a client to tolerate emotional distress and implement concrete strategies that allow for a productive, effective response. When helping individuals identify their personal goals, Healthy Minds clinicians supports each client by balancing acceptance and validation with talk of how they can mobilize change. This allows clients to develop the motivation to learn and practice new skills. Dialectical Behavior Therapy at Healthy Minds will be available for adolescents/families, and adults. Specialized DBT programs for LGBTQ+ folx will also offered group counseling.

WHO CAN BENEFIT FROM DIALECTICAL BEHAVIORAL THERAPY

At Healthy Minds, our DBT programming can help individuals experiencing symptoms related to:

Depression
Anxiety
Bipolar
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Substance use disorders
Personality disorders, including borderline personality disorder
Chronic suicidal thinking and/or a history of attempted suicide
Self-harm urges and/or self-injurious behavior
Frequent needs for crisis services and/or mental health hospitalizations
Difficulty functioning at home, school, work, or socially
Challenges within relationships with family, friends, and/or treatment team members
Difficulty regulated emotions and tolerating distress

THE HEALTHY MINDS APPROACH

Healthy Minds is a clinic specializing in DBT for adults and adolescents that provides therapy to support each client’s individualized needs with each counseling session. As a result, we take great care to customize every client’s therapeutic experience, working closely with our clients and their existing treatment team members.

START NOW

DIALECTICAL BEHAVIORAL THERAPY IN MINNESOTA

If you feel that Dialectical Behavior Therapy can help you or a loved one in achieving a healthier, happier life, Healthy Minds is here to help. Our team is comprised of best-in-class professionals equipped to provide highly effective treatment to suit individualized needs, and we are more than happy to provide more information and answer any questions you may have. Learn more about Dialectical Behavior Therapy and how it can help you or someone you care for by contacting Healthy Minds or by requesting an appointment today.

You can also reach out by calling:

(651) 571-2865

DBT PLEASE!

Our Program

Our LGBTQ+ DBT Program is the 18+ adult program made up entirely of queer folx with an added 10 min component: “Queer Moments” so you can show up and share something queer that the straight world doesn’t allow for most of the time.

Our Adult DBT Programs provide comprehensive therapy (for all able-bodied and disabled) and skills that help individuals decrease symptoms and maintain safety.

Our Adolescent DBT Program provides comprehensive therapy and skills that help teenagers ages 14 to 18 and their parents navigate difficulty effectively.

"DBT is simple, but not easy. Having a LGBTQ+ specific group helped me make the commitment to the year-long process. Had a few friends who'd done a DBT program and recommended it, I knew it was gonna be tough. I just wanted to be able to show up and know I'd be accepted for who I am and not have to self-protect my queerness—this group did it. I can't imagine my life without DBT at this point, and I can't imagine doing the program as a queer in a non-LGBTQ+ group."

"I'm a therapist who will always want to do my own inner work so I can better help my own clients. Turns out clinicians can't heal themselves. DBT skills, put together into what my therapist called 'skill stacks' can by learning them in the context of relationship (with individual therapist and the rest of the group). Skills become habit becomes personality characteristics build a life with less anxiety and intense overwhelm. Yes please."

"My family was a ship navigating pitching waves of emotional tumult due to our teen's unskillful behavior choices due to their not knowing how to deal with their emotions and thoughts. We didn't know how to help. The adolescent family program was exactly the skills-based help we all needed. As parents we think we should know everything our kids need to know. Neither my husband or I knew how to regulate our own emotions super well, so couldn't teach our teen. DBT teaches us all the skills we needed to better support each other in times of stress and intense emotion. If you're a parent, struggling, DO THIS PROGRAM. You won't ever regret it.

The Top 4 Things DBT Could Do For You

If you're struggling with any number of mental health issues, dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) may be able to help. DBT teaches people skills to improve their quality of life. The skills are divided into four main categories: Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. While each category has its own goals, the overall goal of DBT is to help people live in the moment, cope with difficult situations, manage their emotions, and interact with others in a more effective way. If you're looking for a way to improve your mental health, here are the top 4 things DBT could do for you.