Four Pillars of DBT

Individual Sessions

A critical first step is identifying 1.) what we want to make our lives about and 2.) what may be getting in the way. We provide a space where the core dialectic of acceptance and change are balanced, to promote compassion towards ourselves as well as empower us to move towards our values and purpose. Participants commit to completing a “diary card” on a daily basis, for the purpose of monitoring thoughts, feelings, and other precipitants that tend to interfere with progress on our journey.

Skills Group

We offer skills groups for adolescents, parents/guardians of adolescents, and adults. DBT skills group operates more like a classroom than a traditional psychotherapy group. Each week, our trained DBT therapists teach concrete skills in the following areas.

Weekly homework is assigned and reviewed in subsequent groups.

Mindfulness

Research has shown that one of the “four constituents of well-being” is the ability to manage our attention. As humans, we spend most of our waking lives thinking about painful events from the past or worrying about the future. This usually leads to greater distress and prevents us from being fully present in the only moment we are ever alive: right now. Mindfulness skills teach us how to be aware in a particular way, allowing us the freedom to choose what comes next.

Distress Management

While some of us experience more frequent and intense emotional highs/lows, we all experience moments that feel big and overwhelming at times. Distress management skills offer alternative and proactive methods for responding to these situations, helping us get through life’s difficult moments without making matters worse.

Emotional Regulation

We learn how to regulate emotions during our child and adolescent years. Many of us, in the face of difficult emotions, experienced invalidating responses such as being yelling at, shamed, punished, or ignored. So it makes sense that we may struggle in the face of current intense emotion. We may notice ourselves in an inescapable pattern of avoiding and pushing away certain emotions, only to find ourselves crushed and consumed by them later on. Emotional regulation skills teach us how to identify, manage, and have our emotions. Rather than teaching us how to feel better, emotional regulation skills are about teaching us how to be better at having our feelings.

Interpersonal Effectiveness

As humans, we are hardwired for social connection. But what happens when we feel we have made countless efforts to connect in a relationship and we keep feeling dismissed, hurt and disappointed? We may notice ourselves in more conflicts, avoiding this person and/or feeling like giving up altogether. Interpersonal effectiveness skills teach us how to engage skillfully in relationships, make requests to improve the chances of getting our needs met, and how to factor in our own self-respect.

Phone Coaching

There are 168 hours in a week, and usually only one or two of them are spent in the context of a therapeutic space. Phone coaching is a core component of DBT and allows clients to reach their therapist between sessions, for assistance applying skills learned from group, in the moments that really matter.

Consultation Team

One of the benefits of joining our DBT program is the assurance that our team of therapists is receiving ongoing consultation and support. This space helps to prevent therapist burn-out and increase adherence to the DBT model. A team approach is essential in the health and vitality of our work, offering additional perspectives and support when a therapist-client dyad are feeling stuck.

Our Founder

Dr. Todd R. Christiansen, MD, is a psychiatry specialist. He attended and graduated from the Medical College of Wisconsin in 2000.

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About FFCP Maryland

FFCP Maryland is an outpatient mental health clinic (OMHC) providing behavioral health services for children, adolescents, and adults in Maryland.

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Employment

FFCP is actively hiring licensed Off-Site Therapists in Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, Baltimore County, Baltimore City, and Howard County.

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