DBT Therapy in Denver

Frequently Asked Questions About DBT

DBT is one of the two treatments Mountainside specializes in. Two questions the source list filed under DBT are answered on their own pages: DBT skills groups on our groups page, and DBT for ADHD on our ADHD page.

What is DBT therapy?

DBT is an evidence-based treatment that teaches a specific curriculum of skills for managing intense emotions, tolerating crisis, and handling relationships — combined with individual therapy that applies those skills to your own life. It was developed for people whose emotions arrive faster and harder than they can manage. Mountainside offers comprehensive DBT in Denver, including individual sessions, phone coaching, and skills groups.

What does DBT stand for?

DBT stands for Dialectical Behavior Therapy. “Dialectical” refers to holding two apparently opposing truths at once — that you are doing the best you can, and that you need to do things differently. That balance between acceptance and change is the core of the model and what distinguishes it from purely change-focused approaches like CBT.

How does DBT work?

It runs on two tracks. A weekly skills group teaches the four modules like a class, with practice assigned between sessions; individual therapy then applies those skills to whatever is actually happening in your week. Phone coaching supports use of the skills in real time. The structure exists because knowing a skill and using it at 2am are different achievements. See our approach.

What are the four modules of DBT?

Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Mindfulness underpins the other three. Distress tolerance covers surviving a crisis without making it worse, emotion regulation covers changing an emotion’s intensity and duration, and interpersonal effectiveness covers asking, refusing, and negotiating. Our adult skills group works through the full set over six months to a year.

What is DBT used for?

DBT was developed for chronic suicidality and self-harm and remains the most studied treatment for those behaviors. Its use has since broadened to borderline personality disorder, emotional dysregulation, PTSD, eating disorders, substance use, and difficulty with anger and impulsivity. It is generally chosen when emotional intensity itself — rather than a single distorted belief — is the problem.

Who is DBT best suited for?

People whose emotions escalate faster than they can manage, whose reactions damage their relationships or safety, and who have found that understanding the problem has not been enough to change it. It suits those willing to attend consistently and practice between sessions. If you are unsure whether you fit that description, that is a fair thing to bring to a free consultation.

What conditions does DBT treat?

Borderline personality disorder, chronic suicidal ideation and self-harm, emotional dysregulation, PTSD and complex trauma via DBT-PE, and depression or anxiety occurring alongside emotional dysregulation. It is also used for anger, impulsivity, eating disorders, and substance use. Our clinicians will say if something else would serve you better.

How is DBT different from talk therapy?

General talk therapy is largely exploratory — you discuss what is happening and gain insight. DBT keeps a therapeutic relationship at its center but adds an explicit curriculum, homework, a weekly skills group, and phone coaching. You leave with things to do, not only things to understand. That structure is why it requires specifically trained clinicians. Meet ours.

What are DBT skills?

They are the concrete, teachable techniques that make up the four modules — things like paced breathing and cold water for a crisis, checking whether an emotion fits the facts, opposite action, radical acceptance, and DEAR MAN for making a request. Each is drilled rather than merely discussed. The full curriculum is taught in our DBT skills groups in Denver.

What is distress tolerance in DBT?

Distress tolerance is the module for moments you cannot fix or leave — a panic surge, an urge to self-harm, a wave of grief. Its skills, including TIPP, distraction, self-soothing, and radical acceptance, are designed to get you through the hour without doing something that makes tomorrow worse. The aim is survival of the moment, not feeling good about it.

What is emotional regulation in DBT?

The emotion regulation module teaches you to identify and name what you are feeling, work out what triggered it, check whether it fits the facts, and change its intensity — including by acting opposite to an unhelpful urge. It also covers reducing vulnerability through sleep, food, and routine, and deliberately building positive experiences so difficult emotions have something to compete with.

What is interpersonal effectiveness in DBT?

This module covers asking for what you need, saying no, and handling conflict without the relationship or your self-respect becoming collateral damage. It includes structured scripts — DEAR MAN for requests, GIVE for preserving the relationship, FAST for self-respect — so the skills hold up when you are under pressure. Many clients say this is where the people around them notice change first.

What is mindfulness in DBT?

Mindfulness in DBT is the foundational module the other three rest on: noticing thoughts, sensations, and urges as they happen without immediately reacting to them. It is taught as a set of drills — observe, describe, participate — rather than as meditation or a mood you try to summon. It creates the pause that every other skill needs in order to fit.

How long does a DBT program last?

Our adult DBT skills group is designed as a six-month to one-year commitment, meeting two hours weekly on Tuesdays, which is long enough to work through all four modules and practice them in real situations. The teen multi-family group runs 24 weeks on Mondays. Individual therapy usually continues alongside and tapers as the skills become automatic. Group details here.

Is DBT effective for anxiety?

It can be, particularly when anxiety comes with emotional dysregulation, panic, or avoidance that has not responded to other approaches — the distress tolerance and mindfulness skills transfer directly. That said, CBT is usually the first-line treatment for a focused anxiety disorder. We offer both and will recommend the better fit rather than the one you happened to ask about. Anxiety treatment in Denver.

Is DBT effective for depression?

DBT is helpful for depression that occurs alongside emotional dysregulation, self-harm, or chronic suicidal thoughts, and its behavioral activation and vulnerability-reduction skills address low mood directly. For straightforward major depression without those features, CBT is typically the more efficient route. Our depression treatment page explains how we choose between them.

Is DBT good for anger management?

Yes — anger is one of the emotions DBT handles best, because the model treats the intensity and the resulting behavior as separate problems. Distress tolerance skills interrupt the escalation, emotion regulation addresses what fuels it, and interpersonal effectiveness replaces the outburst with a request. See our page on anger and impulse-control difficulties.

Can DBT help with emotional dysregulation?

This is the problem DBT was built to solve, and where its evidence base is strongest. Rather than treating intense emotion as something to suppress, DBT teaches you to name it accurately, understand what set it off, and change its intensity — while also building the ability to tolerate what cannot be changed right now. Read about DBT at Mountainside.

What is the TIPP skill in DBT?

TIPP is a distress tolerance skill for extreme distress, and it works by changing your body chemistry quickly rather than by reasoning with the emotion. It stands for Temperature, Intense exercise, Paced breathing, and Paired muscle relaxation — cold water on the face, a short burst of hard movement, slow exhalations, and deliberate tensing and releasing. It buys you the minutes you need.

What is the DEAR MAN skill in DBT?

DEAR MAN is the interpersonal effectiveness script for making a request or saying no: Describe, Express, Assert, Reinforce, then stay Mindful, Appear confident, and Negotiate. It exists because most people either avoid asking or ask in a way that starts an argument. Having a structure makes it usable when you are anxious. It is rehearsed in our skills groups.

What is radical acceptance in DBT?

Radical acceptance means fully acknowledging reality as it is, including the parts that are unfair — not because you approve of them, but because fighting the facts adds suffering on top of pain. It is a distress tolerance skill used when a situation genuinely cannot be changed. Acceptance is not resignation: it is what frees up energy for the things you can act on.

What is wise mind in DBT?

Wise mind is the state where reasoning and emotion meet — neither cold logic that ignores what you feel, nor emotional reasoning that treats a feeling as a fact. DBT teaches it as something you can deliberately access rather than wait for, usually through mindfulness practice. Most consequential decisions are better made from there than from either extreme.

How do I find a DBT therapist in Denver?

Ask specifically about training, because “DBT-informed” and comprehensive DBT are very different. A full program includes individual therapy, a weekly skills group, phone coaching, and a consultation team. Mountainside provides all of these — our clinical director has over a decade of intensive DBT training, and our groups are led by Dr. Biggs-Heisler and Anabelle Brecker.

What should I expect in my first DBT session?

Your first session is an intake assessment: your therapist will want to understand your history, what brought you in, what you have already tried, and what you want to be different. You will discuss whether comprehensive DBT is the right fit and how group and individual work would fit your schedule. Our page on starting DBT in Denver walks through it.

Is DBT covered by insurance?

Mountainside is an out-of-network provider, so we do not bill insurance directly for DBT. We provide superbills — itemized receipts you submit to your insurer — and many clients with out-of-network benefits are reimbursed 50–80% of the cost. Individual sessions are $175–$200 and the adult skills group is $125 per two-hour session. Full pricing here.

Can you do DBT online?

Yes. Every clinician at Mountainside offers telehealth, and individual DBT sessions run on a secure, HIPAA-compliant platform anywhere in Colorado. Skills practice, worksheets, and phone coaching all translate well to a virtual format. If you are weighing the format itself, our online therapy page covers what virtual sessions involve and how to prepare for one.

What’s the difference between individual DBT and DBT skills group?

The group is where the skills are taught — a structured, two-hour weekly class working through the four modules. Individual therapy is where they get applied to your specific circumstances and where anything urgent is addressed. Comprehensive DBT pairs both, because the group teaches and individual sessions make it stick. Which you start with depends on your situation and schedule.

How long does it take for DBT to work?

Crisis survival skills often help within the first few weeks, because they are designed for immediate use. Durable change in how you regulate emotion generally takes months — which is why the adult group is structured over six months to a year. DBT asks for consistent attendance and practice between sessions; the clients who benefit most are the ones who keep showing up.

Browse every question in our comprehensive mental health FAQ →