DBT-Informed Therapy in Utah

You may know what you wish you had said after an argument, yet struggle to find those words when emotions are running high. Or you may want more practical ways to handle distress alongside talking about what is happening in your life.

At Alliance Counseling Utah, several therapists incorporate Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, into their work. You can ask about DBT-informed individual counseling and discuss which provider, location, and approach fit your needs.

What does DBT-informed mean?

DBT brings together acceptance and change: acknowledging your experience while working on responses that serve you better. It belongs to the broader family of cognitive behavioral therapies. The Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies explains this balance in its overview of DBT.

Here, DBT-informed means drawing on DBT skills and principles within individual counseling. The service described on this page is not a comprehensive DBT program.

Comprehensive DBT includes individual therapy, skills training, between-session coaching, and a therapist consultation team. Using selected DBT techniques does not establish that the full program is being provided. ABCT distinguishes comprehensive DBT from adaptations and cautions against assuming they produce equivalent results.

If a clinician has recommended comprehensive DBT, tell us when you reach out. Ask specifically about the services you need before deciding whether an individual appointment is the right next step.

Skills you can discuss with your therapist

DBT organizes skills into four areas. These are tools to learn and practice, rather than a promise that difficult feelings will disappear. The University of Washington describes these four skill areas:

• Mindfulness: noticing what is happening in the present, including thoughts, feelings, and urges.
• Emotion regulation: learning to name emotions, understand what contributes to them, and consider how to respond.
• Distress tolerance: working on ways to get through distress without adding to the problem.
• Interpersonal effectiveness: practicing how to communicate needs and navigate relationships.

For example, you might want to discuss the moments when a difficult conversation turns into withdrawing or saying something you later regret. The work could include naming the emotion, noticing the urge to react, and considering another response. Your goals and circumstances would shape what you practice.

Bringing your concerns into individual counseling

You do not have to arrive with a treatment plan. Start with what you want to be different: handling conflict, responding to frustration, expressing a need, or understanding why an emotion feels hard to manage.

Our individual therapy approach centers on goals you develop with your therapist. Ask how DBT skills could fit those goals, how you would practice them, and how you would review whether the work is useful. Your therapist can discuss whether this approach fits your concerns and the level of support you need.

If you are also considering Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, bring that question to the conversation. You can ask a provider to explain how they use each approach rather than choosing based on the therapy name alone.

Alliance therapists who use DBT

The following Alliance therapists list DBT among their therapeutic approaches:

• Anna Horton lists DBT among her approaches and emotional regulation among her areas of focus.
• Natasha Hutchings lists DBT and identifies coping skills and emotional regulation as areas of focus.
• Lizzy Palmatier includes DBT among the approaches in her personalized counseling work.
• Shawna Thorne describes drawing from DBT alongside other therapeutic techniques.
• Mary Bitner lists DBT among their therapeutic approaches.
• Mason Huff lists DBT among their therapeutic approaches.
• Stacie Later lists DBT among their therapeutic approaches.

Their profiles are a starting point for learning about fit. Ask about a provider's DBT training, experience with your concerns, and how they incorporate skills into individual sessions. Listing DBT as an approach does not, by itself, establish DBT certification or participation in a comprehensive program.

Appointments in Sandy, South Jordan, and online

Alliance has offices in Sandy and South Jordan. You can also ask about telehealth therapy in Utah. Let us know your preferred setting so we can check provider options; a particular therapist's availability and the suitability of online care need to be discussed individually.

Before scheduling, ask about fees, any insurance questions, and what communication is available between appointments. Do not assume that an individual counseling appointment includes a skills group or phone coaching.

Ask about DBT-informed counseling

Contact Alliance Counseling to ask about a therapist who incorporates DBT. Share what you would like help with and whether you prefer Sandy, South Jordan, or online care.

For immediate emotional or suicide-related crisis support in the United States, call or text 988, available 24/7. An appointment request is not a way to obtain immediate crisis help.