Several years ago I was invited to give a presentation on Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). I titled the presentation ‘Busting the Myth of BPD” primarily because many clinicians struggle to treat a BPD diagnosis due to the complexities in dealing with someone who is usually reactive, challenging, and emotionally dysregulated.  In a few weeks, I, together with our Clinical Director, Dr Sarah Lyndon, will be presenting at The Meetings of the Minds conference in Anaheim on Borderline Personality Disorder in a workshop titled “Where Angels Fear to Tread”. Our major objective is to help t ..read more

DBT Center of Orange County is what is referred to as an “adherent” DBT program. What this means is that we provide all of the aspects of treatment that Marsha Linehan, who created DBT in the 1990s, specified are required to be providing DBT according to its principles and protocols. These four aspects are; group skills training, individual therapy, phone coaching and DBT consultation team. In this blog, we will briefly explore the DBT consultation team. Marsha Linehan realized that clinicians treating high risk, and often multi diagnosed clients, need support. More specifically, they need sup ..read more

This month’s DBT skills highlight is Check the facts. This is an important skill in Emotion Regulation and the first step used when we want to change an unwanted emotion. Our emotions can affect the way we think and the way we react to events. And oftentimes we are actually reacting to our interpretations or assumptions about an event, rather than the facts of the event itself. This can cause us greater emotional suffering due to faulty beliefs and absolute thinking. Checking the facts helps us figure out if our interpretations, emotional intensity, and the duration we experience the emotion f ..read more

In DBT-C, we are looking for a balance of acceptance and change. That is, validating what is valid and changing what we need to change for more regulated and skillful behavior. In order for behavior change to occur, we need the following:  1. Awareness: Whether this is for the child or for parents, the first step is to increase awareness of what we are experiencing and what our emotion is urging us to do. That could be a parent feeling frustrated and then yelling at their child or a child becoming angry and engaging in aggressive behavior. When an emotion urges us to take action, we call ..read more

One of the essential tools in DBT treatment is the use of a Diary Card. The client is asked to keep a Diary Card as a daily log to track their emotions, behaviors, and the DBT skills they have learned and practiced. The Diary Card helps clients stay mindful of their treatment goals such as managing binging and/or purging behaviors, reducing maladaptive thinking, etc. Much like in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), the diary card is a simple and powerful ‘homework’ tool that helps clients identify patterns and triggers affecting their emotions and behaviors. Designed to be completed daily and ..read more

It’s the start of 2024, and you may be wondering how did the last few months of 2023 fly by so fast! The last few months of the year can be fast paced and overwhelming at times. Which can make it difficult to participate and be mindful in our daily lives. While leaving one year behind and beginning a new year can be overwhelming, it can also be a time for rejuvenation. A new year gives us an opportunity to reflect, and set forth with new mindful intentions for ourselves. By setting new mindful intentions for the year ahead, we can get back to participating fully in our goals (school, work, fam ..read more

In the spirit of education and inclusion of Cultural Diversity, the Jewish Holiday of Hanukkah commences on the eve of Thursday December 7th through Friday December 15th. This holiday is celebrated for 8 nights and commences on each night with the lighting of a candelabra called a Menorah. The traditional foods we eat are latkes which are fried potato pancakes with applesauce and/or sour cream and  jelly donuts. Here is a brief video that describes this celebration: Mayim Balik explains Hanukkah. – Dr. Michele Lob PsyD, LMFT We asked members of our amazing DBTOC team to share their Holida ..read more

Writing may be defined as the process of using symbols to communicate thoughts and ideas, yet also a creation of art and a cathartic form of therapy. Stories are medicine for the soul. Since cavemen entertained around the fire, sharing wisdom and fables, they also recorded valuable lessons for generations to pass down. Structure was developed for messages to be comprehended and conveyed for thousands of years. As we have evolved into languages with specific rules, yet writing doesn’t have to be so serious, writing can be fun and incredibly healing. At DBT Center of Orange County, Alysa Osvog ..read more

This month’s highlight is the PLEASE skills. In DBT when analyzing behaviors we pay particular attention to something called vulnerability factors, which can make non-preferred emotions more intense. I’m sure we can all think of a time where we haven’t gotten enough sleep or haven’t eaten anything that day and notice that our fuse could be shorter emotionally speaking. While some unpleasant events are out of our control, luckily our PLEASE skills are something we can remain cognizant about as a way to build a psychological buffer to distress. The PLEASE skills include the following: (treat) P ..read more

A Super Sensor is a child who experiences feelings and their environment more intensely than others. They get upset easily, have strong feelings, and when upset or excited, can take a long time to calm down. They can also feel positive emotions strongly, can read other’s emotions, are often creative, and can be very caring with others.  Other traits that your Super Sensor child may have are the following:  They look for ways to avoid effort. They are hyper-reactive and may exhibit anxiety attacks, physical or verbal outbursts, suicidality, and self-harm.  They may have a hard t ..read more