DBT Teen and Family Program

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

Drawing from the works of Dr. Linehan,  Alec Miller, PhD, and his colleagues at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein School of Medicine, we offer a 24 week program adjusted to the developmental needs of teens and their families.  The teen years are even more difficult for those vulnerable to emotion dysregulation, with increased risk of self-harm and/or suicidality. The goal of the program is to help teenagers increase their ability to cope with intense emotions, be more effective in their interactions with family, friends, and teachers, and to assist families in their own practice of skills necessary to help their adolescents grow and develop as they progress into adulthood.

The teen and family program is designed to treat the comprehensive needs of both the teen and their family. The program consists of:

  • Weekly individual therapy sessions for the adolescent
  • Weekly 90-minute adolescent skills training group
  • A weekly 90-minute parent skills group (these meet at the same time as the teen groups and it is required that at least 1 parent attend. Please see our Parent Group FAQ for more information.)
  • As-needed phone coaching for managing crisis outside of the therapy session
  • Monthly family check-ins to discuss treatment progress

Other types of appointments may also be indicated, depending on the client and family’s specific needs. These may include:

  • Family therapy
  • Parent skills coaching sessions
  • Medication management by our in-house psychiatric nurse practitioners
  • Nutritional assessment and counseling with our in-house nutritionist.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

The program is open to teens (ages 13-18). As family participation is mandatory, we ask that at at least one of the teen’s primary care providers be willing to participate in their teen’s treatment, as participation of both of the client and the family is required.


GETTING STARTED

The first step in getting started is filling out our electronic interest form.

Electronic Interest Form

For general information about the program, please contact
Ashley Maliken, PhD, our DBT Teen program manager, at amaliken@pdbti.org or (503)-290-3277.

For registration, insurance, and billing questions, please contact our Intake Team at referral@pdbti.org  or (503) 290-3291.