Adolescent Program

Teens learn DBT skills in an environment that provides peer and clinician support while challenging them to utilize their skills to better navigate their internal and external worlds.

Groups

Our adolescent groups balance teaching DBT skills with encouraging peer connection and support. We attempt to create a nonjudgmental environment where teens can share openly about their struggles while receiving direct feedback and skills to help them better navigate their lives.

It has been shown that adolescents who have supportive and involved families tend to have greater success with skills practice and integration. Our program is designed not only to treat adolescents, but to offer support and encouragement to their families. We have options to schedule additional family sessions and/or parent coaching sessions (these do incur an additional fee). Teen group leaders keep parents apprised of what group material is being covered so that an environment where adolescent skills are understood and encouraged can be fostered.

Denver DBT currently offers multiple adolescent DBT groups which are organized by age range (early, middle, and late adolescents). We recognize that a teenager’s chronological age does not necessarily represent their developmental age. Our initial phone screening with parent(s)/caregiver(s), along with our overall intake process with both the teen and their parent(s)/caregiver(s), help to ensure that the adolescent is situated in the most age appropriate group. All of our adolescent groups are held in person at our Bellaire Street office (near Colorado Blvd and I-25) except for the Thursday 4:45 pm group which is held in Arvada at 5738 Olde Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada, CO 80002.

Please visit the availability and fees page for specific times and locations of each group.

The Program Includes:

  • Weekly 1.5-hour skills training covering mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance.
  • Emails to inform family members/the adolescents’ support system of skills covered.
  • Optional monthly parent/primary caretaker support and skills information group (coming soon).
  • Optional family DBT sessions and/or parent coaching, as needed.