California Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

What is Dialectical Behavior Therapy?

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, is a structured and skills-based therapeutic approach that helps you manage overwhelming emotions, improve relationships, and function more effectively in daily life. It teaches four core areas: mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness.

DBT is rooted in both acceptance and change. It helps you understand your emotions while also building healthier patterns. It is backed by decades of research and has been proven effective for people who feel emotionally reactive, stuck, or disconnected. DBT offers practical tools and compassionate support to help you regain a sense of control and start living a life you love.

What Does DBT Help With?

DBT is designed for people who feel emotions deeply and sometimes struggle to cope with them. It’s particularly effective in treating anxiety, depression, trauma, PTSD, ADHD, self-harm, emotional dysregulation, addictions, and relationship challenges.

If you often feel like your emotions swing from one extreme to another or that you’re constantly in “survival mode,” DBT can help you find steadier ground. It is also widely used with people navigating chronic illness, identity questions, or significant life and work stressors. DBT offers the structure and tools to help you move through life with more balance and less overwhelm.

What to Expect During a DBT Session

In a DBT session, you’ll learn practical skills to manage emotions and communicate more effectively. Sessions often include a check-in, a focus on building awareness, and time to explore how you’re applying DBT tools in your everyday life. It’s structured but flexible, always collaborative, and never about perfection.

Progress is measured by what feels meaningful to you. All sessions are held via TeleHealth, making it easier to fit therapy into your life, no matter your schedule or location in California.

Meet Your DBT Therapists

Sairah Abassi, LCSW

Sairah Abassi, LCSW, provides therapy for clients across California and Colorado, integrating Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to support individuals and couples in navigating stress, emotional challenges, and relationship dynamics. With a warm and practical approach, she helps clients develop mindfulness, emotional regulation, and communication skills, especially those healing from past trauma or seeking more balance in their daily lives.

Hannah Pasternak, LCSW

Hannah Pasternak, LCSW specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), helping clients develop practical tools to manage intense emotions and move through life’s challenges with greater ease. By emphasizing mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness, she supports clients in building resilience—whether they’re facing relationship difficulties, workplace stress, anxiety, or the lasting effects of trauma. Hannah provides a warm, nonjudgmental space for clients to explore their emotions and experiences. Blending DBT techniques with a strengths-based approach, she empowers individuals to create lasting, meaningful change—fostering growth not only in their relationships with others, but also in their relationship with themselves.

Aly Giermann, LCSW

Aly Giermann, LCSW, is a DBT-certified therapist who brings a warm, strengths-based, and trauma-informed approach to every session. She works with clients navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, identity exploration, chronic stress, and life transitions. Aly also specializes in LGBTQ+ affirming care and understands how layered those experiences can be.

Aly takes a holistic approach by blending DBT with EMDR, CBT, and mindfulness. Her goal is to help you create a life you feel excited to wake up to. Outside of work, you’ll likely find her hiking with her two dogs or camping under the stars with family and friends.

Schedule an Appointment with a DBT Therapist Near You

Taking the first step can feel hard, but it’s also where healing begins. If you’re ready to explore DBT therapy with Aly, we’re here to help.

Services are available to California residents through phone or video sessions. To learn more or book a free consultation, contact our Intake Coordinator at 949-236-1990 or intakes@lisaeatontherapy.com. You can also visit our Get Started page to learn more.