Emotion Encyclopedia: Identify and Describe Your Emotions
The DBT emotion model is one of the most important tools for understanding and regulating emotions. Before you can change how you feel, you need to know what is actually happening inside your emotional system. This skill helps you answer a more basic question: What am I actually feeling? Most people don’t struggle because they “have too many emotions.” They struggle because they can’t accurately identify them. And if you misidentify the emotion: You use [read more]
Check the Facts with Dialectical Behavior Therapy
If you’ve ever spiraled after a text wasn’t answered, assumed the worst, or felt your emotions escalate quickly, you’re not alone. DBT has a skill specifically for this: Check the Facts. Check the Facts: A Complete Guide to One of Dialectical Behavior Therapy's Most Important Skills If you only learn one emotion regulation skill in DBT, this is one of the most important. Check the Facts is the skill that helps you figure out: What [read more]
Living with Borderline Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) is one of the most misunderstood (and most stigmatized) mental health conditions. It’s often reduced to stereotypes: “dramatic,” “manipulative,” “too much.” But those labels miss the truth. At its core, BPD is about intense emotional sensitivity, deep pain, and a nervous system that struggles to regulate overwhelming internal experiences. And perhaps most importantly: BPD is treatable. People with BPD can, and do, go into remission. I completed postdoctoral training in Dialectical [read more]
Emotions 101
Why We Even Have Emotions Most people come into therapy wanting fewer emotions.Or at least quieter ones. But in DBT, emotions are not the problem.They are doing a job. Emotions evolved to help us survive, connect, and make decisions quickly. When we understand their function, they start to feel a lot less chaotic...and a lot more predictable! What Emotions Actually Do DBT breaks this down in a way I love because it is simple and [read more]
Traumatic Invalidation, Part II
Why It Hurts So Much and How to Start Healing When It Keeps Happening If you read my original post on traumatic invalidation, you’re probably already familiar with how deeply painful it can feel when your emotional experience is dismissed, especially during or after trauma. Many people told me they felt seen by that language. Others said, “This explains so much about my reactions.” This follow-up is for the next question that often comes up: [read more]
Money and the Holidays
Finding peace (and balance) where money, mental health, and the holidays collide. Why the Holidays Can Feel So Complicated The holidays have a funny way of stirring up joy and anxiety at the same time, especially when money is involved. We’re surrounded by images of perfect gatherings, expensive gifts, and effortless generosity, but behind the scenes, many of us are doing math on our phones, juggling guilt, or quietly panicking about credit card balances. For [read more]
