Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program
at Village Counseling Services, P.C.
Village Counseling Services, P.C, has the longest running comprehensive Dialectical Behavior
Therapy (DBT) program in central New Jersey.
To uphold the integrity of the DBT treatment model, we feature a structured and selective
intake process and all members of our DBT Consultation Team have been intensively trained.
We provide our clients with intensive, individualized treatment by maintaining a small
therapist-to-client ratio, and by offering DBT skills training in small groups. Our DBT program
provides services to adolescents, adults, and family members, offering several DBT skills groups
per week.
What is DBT?
DBT is an evidence-based comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment that combines the
basic strategies of behavior therapy with eastern mindfulness practices. Developed in the
1970s by Marsha Linehan, PhD., ABPP, DBT has at its core a dialectic: it validates how difficult it
is to have conflicting and intense emotions and simultaneously supports the need to replace
rigid thinking and learn new skills. DBT is a highly practical and direct form of therapy with the
primary goal of helping clients create the life they want to live. At Village Counseling Services,
P.C., we teach clients to tolerate distress, bear pain skillfully, regulate emotions, and improve
relationships with others, while building a life worth living.
DBT Program Components
WEEKLY INDIVIDUAL THERAPY
Through a combination of dialectical, validation, and problem-solving strategies, individual
therapy helps our clients reduce maladaptive mood-dependent behaviors and replace them
with more skillful responses.
WEEKLY SKILLS TRAINING
A skills training group combines lecture, discussion, and practice exercises to develop and
refine skills in non-judgmental thinking with present-moment awareness and acceptance.
Skills are taught in 6-week modules: Mindfulness; Distress Tolerance; Emotion Regulation;
Interpersonal Effectiveness; and Walking the Middle Path.
Village Counseling Services, P.C., 22 Gordon Ave., P.O. Box 6573, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Tel: 609-844-0452
Fax: 609-844-0518 Website: www.vcsnj.info
MONTHLY SKILLS TRAINING FOR FAMILY MEMBERS AND SIGNIFICANT OTHERS
This group is designed to help our clients’ parents and/or significant others facilitate the
progress of their family member in our program. The goals of the group include explaining
the biosocial model effecting their family member; teaching some of the basic DBT ideas and
skills their family member is learning in the program; exploring ways to provide an
environment for their family member that balances validation (where the focus is on
acceptance) and problem solving (where the focus is on change); and to facilitate mutual
support and problem-solving between group members as their family member advances
through the program.
TELEPHONE COACHING
Phone coaching is designed to promote skills use where it matters most – in the real world.
Coaching can be especially helpful to our clients when they find themselves in difficult
situations and need assistance in putting newly-learned skills to work.
CONSULTATION TEAM
Consultation Team is made up of our intensively trained DBT practitioners. In a
nonjudgmental and validating environment, therapists problem-solve difficulties that
interfere with our clients’ progress in treatment and help keep each other within a
dialectical framework.
PSYCHIATRY AND MEDICATION MANAGEMENT
Our on-site psychiatrist provides medication management for DBT clients age 18 and up; we
refer our adolescent DBT clients requiring medication management to a small number of
trusted child and adolescent psychiatrists in the greater Princeton-Lawrenceville area.
Who is DBT For?
This approach has been demonstrated to be highly effective for adults and adolescents who
have difficulty regulating or managing their emotions and who have difficulty controlling
impulsivity and destructive behaviors. DBT has been found especially effective for those with
suicidal and other co-occurring severely dysfunctional behaviors. Research has shown DBT to be
effective in reducing suicidal behavior, psychiatric hospitalization, treatment dropout,
substance abuse, anger, and interpersonal difficulties.
How to Make an Appointment
Visit our website at www.vcsnj.info to complete an intake online or call 609-844-0452,
extension 713 to schedule an intake. We accept most insurance.
Village Counseling Services, P.C., 22 Gordon Ave., P.O. Box 6573, Lawrenceville, NJ 08648
Tel: 609-844-0452
Fax: 609-844-0518 Website: www.vcsnj.info