Adolescents can sometime experience emotions so intensely that their ability to cope is overwhelmed. They will sometimes resort to drastic methods like harming themselves and expressing a desire to die, in order to alleviate their distress.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy teaches Adolescents healthier alternatives for coping. By learning these skills, they will be able to achieve a life that is more consistent with their values that they see as worthwhile.  In the Adolescent DBT IOP, teens learn DBT skills such as Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Walking the Middle Path, Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance, adapted to their developmental level.  By working in a group setting, teens learn from other teens who are also applying their newfound skills in their own lives. Giving and receiving feedback from other teens enhances the integration of the new skills.

Parents of teens in the Adolescent DBT are important facilitators of their teen’s improving skillfulness in managing themselves. Parents are expected to attend two Adolescent DBT IOP sessions each week, Tuesday, Walking the Middle Path, and Saturday’s multifamily group. In addition, parents participate in developing the initial treatment goals and in implementing the aftercare plans at the end of treatment. Parents can be instrumental in supporting treatment, encouraging learning and using DBT skills, and may themselves also learn to use the same skills as their teen.

Monday-Thursday from 4:00 – 6:00 pm CST and Saturdays from 9:00 – 11:00 am CST

The teen will meet weekly with their primary therapist. Parents will be expected to participate in the teen’s individual sessions, early in treatment to help establish goals for change and towards the end to assess progress and to implement the aftercare plan. Parents might be invited to additional sessions at the discretion of the primary therapist. The expected length of an episode of treatment is around 25 sessions, or about 5 weeks.

Parents are expected to participate in the Tuesday (Walking the Middle Path) and Saturday (multi-family group) sessions.

Services Provided: Two Tracks

Hybrid Track:
Adolescent only: Macklind In-Person– Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
Multifamily Group: Telehealth – Tuesday and Saturday

Telehealth Only Track:
Adolescent only: Telehealth – Monday, Wednesday, Thursday
Multifamily Group: Telehealth – Tuesday and Saturday