Adolescent & Family DBT Program
Adolescent and Family DBT Treatment
At Awake and Aware, we view the family as an integrated system. While many families find us because their adolescent is struggling—we operate from a systems view that all members of the family are participating in the relative regulation and dysregulation. Adolescent DBT addresses the adolescent as an individual and the parents and the adolescent as a system.
Adolescent DBT was originally developed by Alec Miller and Jill Rathus in conjunction with Marsha Linehan to support the unique developmental and behavioral issues that present with our teen population. Constructed around the same programmatic principles as adult DBT, the adolescent program modifies its requirements to meet the needs of all involved.
See Miller and Rathus discuss these new and exciting modifications:
What’s the program?
Adolescent and Family DBT at Awake ad Aware, LLC includes:
One individual DBT Therapy with one of our skilled clinicians 1x weekly
1 adolescent skills group 1x weekly ( 24 weeks)
Coaching access 7 days a week
A minimum of 2 required family sessions per month ( may be more)
1 family skills group ( 24 weeks) plus an additional 5 weeks including the adolescent and family together known as “Middle path.
All Adolescent DBT clinicians also participate on an adolescent treatment team and meet 1x a week to clinically collaborate.
What’s involved?
Commitment is key in all DBT programs along with willingness to identify behavior and move towards changing those behaviors that aren’t working long term.
We know that forcing change doesn’t work and increasing efforts towards self-determination is key during the teen years. Therefore, initial desire and commitment is required for all family members, which includes the family and the adolescent.
What’s Next?
If this sounds like the right direction for you and your teen, please contact us for further information and head to our contact page for initial paperwork to get started.