What DBT Is
Dialectical behavior therapy was developed by Dr Marsha Linehan, who recognized early in her career that there were not many effective treatments for patients with chronic suicidality, and built the approach around borderline personality disorder.1 It combines acceptance strategies with change strategies, and it teaches a defined set of skills rather than relying on insight alone. Sol runs DBT skills groups across three levels of care in Riverside.
NIMH describes it as using mindfulness and awareness of one’s present situation and emotional state, and teaching skills to help people control intense emotions, reduce self-destructive behaviors and improve relationships.2
Which Parts of DBT You Get Here
The full DBT model has four components. VA material describes the structure as individual psychotherapy, group skills training, in-the-moment phone coaching, and a DBT consultation team for the therapists.3 Each does a different job: individual therapy applies the skills to your own life, the group teaches them, phone coaching helps you use them in the moment, and the consultation team supports the clinicians.
Sol runs the skills group. You get the skills training itself, taught and practiced in a women-only group, alongside individual therapy that is not itself DBT, and alongside everything else in the program.
If you are looking for a comprehensive DBT program with all four components, we want you to know before you call. If what you need is the skills, taught with care and practiced several times a week with other women and a clinician in the room, that is what we offer.
Let us know which you are looking for on the first call, and we will help you find the right fit.
The Four Skill Areas
These are the four modules DBT is built from. The wording below follows how the sources describe them.
| Skill area | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Mindfulness | Observing, describing and participating in the present moment4 |
| Distress tolerance | Strategies to control impulsive actions and to radically accept difficult life events4 |
| Emotion regulation | Strategies for changing emotions4 |
| Interpersonal effectiveness | From acting assertively to maintaining self-respect4 |
All four give you something you can do in the moment, rather than only an explanation afterward.
What the Research Says
DBT has one of the strongest evidence bases of any approach for borderline personality disorder, and that evidence still has limits.
A 2020 Cochrane review of psychological therapies for borderline personality disorder found DBT more effective than treatment as usual at reducing BPD severity, self-harm, and at improving psychosocial functioning. The same review states that all findings are based on low-quality evidence.5
NICE recommends that for women with borderline personality disorder for whom reducing recurrent self-harm is a priority, a comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy program should be considered.6
On suicide specifically, the VA and Department of Defense 2024 guideline states there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against using DBT to reduce suicidal ideation and the risk of suicide attempts or suicide.3 In other words, the research has not settled the question, which is why we describe DBT in terms of self-harm and emotion rather than making a claim about suicide risk.
What DBT Skills Are Not a Treatment For
DBT skills can help in many areas of life, and there are a few conditions where the research does not support DBT as the treatment itself.
PTSD. The VA and Department of Defense 2023 PTSD guideline places DBT in its “Neither for nor against” tier, and the VA lists it under therapies with insufficient evidence to recommend for PTSD.7 Many women in DBT groups do have trauma histories. For trauma, EMDR is the approach here with strong guideline backing.
Addiction and eating disorders. The VA states that DBT teaches skills to help control harmful and impulsive behaviors such as self-harming, substance misuse and binge eating.8 That is a statement about what the skills target, not about treating the disorder. No guideline-level source we could find establishes DBT as an evidence-based treatment for either.
Across all of these, what the skills offer is something to do when an urge arrives, and that can be a real support alongside your treatment.
Read about BPD, dual diagnosis or the full set of therapies.
Why This Sits Well in a Women-Only Program
NICE’s recommendation is unusual in being written about women specifically: for women with borderline personality disorder for whom reducing recurrent self-harm is a priority, consider a comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy program.6
The research does not show that DBT works better in women than in men.
What makes a difference here is the room. Interpersonal effectiveness skills get practiced with the people in front of you. For a woman whose hardest relationships have been with men, practicing boundary-setting and assertiveness first in a women-only group can feel very different from practicing it in a mixed one.
Starting Treatment
1
Call or Send Your Insurance Details
Admissions answers 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
2
Assessment
A clinician works out which level of care fits and where the skills groups sit in your week.
3
Verify Your Insurance
We contact your plan and walk you through your benefits.
4
Start Date
Set around what your week can hold.
If you have done DBT before, say what you did and where. Whether you had the full model or skills training changes what makes sense next.
In crisis right now? Call or text 988.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our admissions line is answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at (951) 972-5085.
Does Sol Offer DBT?
Sol runs DBT skills groups. The full DBT model has four parts: individual DBT therapy, a skills group, phone coaching between sessions, and a therapist consultation team. You get the skills training here, in a women-only group, alongside individual therapy that is not itself DBT. If you need the complete model, let our admissions team know and we will help you find the right fit.
What Are the Four DBT Skills?
Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. Mindfulness covers observing, describing and participating in the present moment. Distress tolerance covers controlling impulsive actions and accepting difficult events. Emotion regulation covers strategies for changing emotions. Interpersonal effectiveness ranges from acting assertively to maintaining self-respect.
Does DBT Work?
For borderline personality disorder, DBT has some of the strongest research of any approach, and that research still has limits. A 2020 Cochrane review found DBT better than treatment as usual at reducing BPD severity and self-harm, and rated all of those findings low-quality evidence. NICE recommends considering a comprehensive DBT program for women with BPD and recurrent self-harm.
Does DBT Reduce Suicide Risk?
The VA and Department of Defense 2024 guideline states there is insufficient evidence to recommend for or against DBT for reducing suicidal ideation, suicide attempts or suicide. That means the question is unsettled rather than answered negatively. The supported framing is reducing recurrent self-harm.
Can DBT Treat My PTSD?
Not as a PTSD treatment. The VA and Department of Defense 2023 PTSD guideline places DBT in its “Neither for nor against” tier. Many women in DBT groups have trauma histories, which is not the same thing. For trauma, EMDR is the approach here with the strongest guideline backing.
Is DBT Used for Addiction?
The VA describes DBT as teaching skills to help control harmful and impulsive behaviors including substance misuse. That describes what the skills target rather than a treatment for substance use disorder. At Sol the skills sit alongside your substance use treatment rather than replacing it.
How Is a Skills Group Different From Weekly Therapy?
Weekly therapy gives you an hour to talk. A skills group teaches a specific skill and then has you practice it with other people, in the room, with a clinician present. For skills meant to be used in the moment, rehearsing them in front of other people is most of the point.
Does Insurance Cover DBT Skills Groups?
They are delivered as part of your program rather than billed separately, so what matters is how your plan covers your level of care. Sol accepts most major insurance plans, including Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Carelon, CareFirst, Cigna, UC SHIP and UnitedHealthcare. Sol can often work with HMO policies through a single case agreement. Sol does not accept Medi-Cal, Medicaid, Medicare, Molina, IEHP, Kaiser, TRICARE or TriWest. Every plan is different, so the quickest way to know is to verify your insurance. Our admissions team responds within 24 hours.
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Skills You Can Use in Everyday Moments
If past therapy helped you understand a pattern but left you unsure what to do in the moment, skills practice may feel different.
4175 Brockton Avenue, Riverside, CA 92501
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Sources8
- 1.US Department of Veterans Affairs, South Central MIRECC. Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Visual Review, Part 1, transcript. https://www.mirecc.va.gov/visn16/docs/DBT_Visual_Review_Part_1_Transcript.pdf
- 2.National Institute of Mental Health. Borderline Personality Disorder. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/borderline-personality-disorder
- 3.US Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense. Clinical Practice Guideline for Patients at Risk for Suicide, Recommendation 9, Rocky Mountain MIRECC summary. https://mirecc.va.gov/MIRECC/visn19/cpg/recs/9/
- 4.Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Adults with Mental Illness: A Review of Clinical Effectiveness and Guidelines, 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK525629/
- 5.Cochrane. Psychological therapies for people with borderline personality disorder, Storebø OJ et al., May 2020. https://www.cochrane.org/evidence/CD012955_psychological-therapies-people-borderline-personality-disorder
- 6.National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. Borderline personality disorder: recognition and management, clinical guideline CG78, recommendation 1.3.4. https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg78/chapter/Recommendations
- 7.US Department of Veterans Affairs, National Center for PTSD. Overview of Psychotherapy for PTSD. https://www.ptsd.va.gov/professional/treat/txessentials/overview_therapy.asp
- 8.US Department of Veterans Affairs. Evidence-Based Treatment. https://www.mentalhealth.va.gov/get-help/treatment/ebt.asp
Medical Disclaimer
This page is educational and is not medical advice. Sol Women’s Treatment runs DBT skills groups and does not deliver the full four-component DBT model. Whether DBT skills training is appropriate for any individual is a clinical judgment made at assessment. Sol is certified by the California Department of Health Care Services for outpatient and intensive outpatient services, certification 330246AP, and licensed by the California Department of Social Services, facility 331881576, and does not provide detox, inpatient or residential care. No two women respond identically and nothing here promises a result. In a medical emergency call 911. If you are in crisis, call or text 988.