Neuroqueer Psychologist

I’m sharing this update with you because if you’ve ever wondered whether DBT might be useful for you, or if we’ve talked about it in session, I want you to understand what this training actually involved and what it means for our work together.

So what exactly is DBT?

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy was originally developed by psychologist Marsha Linehan for people who experience emotions very intensely (especially borderline personality disorder) — often so intensely that it becomes hard to manage relationships, daily life, or a sense of self. Over the decades it has grown into one of the most well-researched therapies available, and it’s now used widely with people navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, eating difficulties, and a whole range of experiences that involve feeling overwhelmed by emotion.

DBT is built on a central idea: that two things can be true at once. You are doing the best you can, and you can also do better. That tension is at the heart of everything.

The therapy itself teaches concrete, practical skills across four areas:

• mindfulness (learning to be present with your experience without being swept away by it),

• distress tolerance (getting through crisis moments without making things worse),
• emotion regulation (understanding and gently shifting the emotions that feel impossible to control),
• interpersonal effectiveness (asking for what you need, assertiveness, and maintaining relationships without losing yourself in them).

Why I chose this training?

As a neuroqueer psychologist, I work with a lot of people who have spent their lives being told their emotional responses are “too much” — too intense, too reactive, too sensitive. What DBT offers, and what drew me to it, is a framework that doesn’t pathologise big emotions. It takes them seriously. It says: of course you feel things this way. Now let’s build the skills to live well with that.

The training I completed was intensive — involving both the theoretical foundations and the hands-on practice of delivering the skills in a way that is actually useful. I came away with new tools, and a deeper appreciation for how much the relational side of this work matters.

What does it mean to you (as my client)?

If DBT skills feel relevant to what you’re working through, we can weave them into our sessions in a way that suits you. You might find elements of the distress tolerance work useful, or the interpersonal skills, or the mindfulness practices. We’ll figure out together what fits.

And if you’ve never heard of DBT before today and are curious whether it might be helpful, please bring it up. I’d love to talk through it with you.

For now, I’m just sitting with the (not so) quiet satisfaction of having done something hard and come out the other side more capable.

If you have questions about DBT or would like to explore whether it’s a good fit for you, feel free to get in touch via the contact page — or simply raise it in our next session.