For the person who knows better and still can't stop reacting.
For the parent watching their teen fall apart and not knowing what to do.
The DBT Starter Kit — 7 clinician-tested strategies — Free, Instant Access
Whether you're working through your own emotional reactions or trying to support a teenager who's struggling, one thing is usually true: the problem isn't effort, love, or intention. It's tools. The DBT Starter Kit gives you 7 concrete, clinician-tested strategies to help you pause, regulate, and respond instead of react.
Send Me the Free GuideIf any of that sounds familiar, you're not alone, and you're not beyond help.
Emotional dysregulation isn't a character flaw.At DBT of North Houston, our intensively trained team of DBT therapists works with adults, teens, and families every day who are exhausted from trying to manage overwhelming emotions on their own.
We built this guide because everyone deserves a real starting point, not vague advice, but actual skills that work in real moments, for you and for your teen.
This guide is for you if you
This guide is a sample of the DBT curriculum our team teaches in treatment. Each module introduces one foundational skill, the same skills our therapists work through with clients in individual and group sessions, so you can start building fluency before or alongside formal therapy.
Paced breathing and present-moment awareness to interrupt the stress response before it takes over. This is the skill everything else is built on.
Learn to identify emotions, spot triggers, and use Opposite Action to change how you feel by changing what you do. A key skill teens in DBT learn early.
The TIPP skill, a grounding technique our clinicians use with clients in acute distress. So when things escalate at home, you have something that actually works.
DEAR MAN and the GIVE skill, two of DBT's most practical tools for asking for what you need and staying connected in difficult conversations. Parents tell us these two skills change how they talk to their teens.
How to recognize the thought patterns keeping you stuck, including catastrophizing and black-and-white thinking, and replace them with something more accurate.
The skill that changes everything. Not giving up. Letting go of the fight against what you can't control, so you can focus on what you can. This one resonates deeply for parents who are carrying a lot.
A guided framework to put it all together, track what's working, and build a practice that fits your actual life, whether you're working on yourself, supporting your teen, or both.
DBT of North Houston is part of Connections Child and Family Center, a group practice of intensively trained DBT therapists serving adults, teens, and families across Texas. We offer both in-person and virtual care.
This guide was built from the same framework we use with our clients in treatment. It's not an introduction to a concept. It's a working toolkit.
You're one step away from having a distress toolkit that actually works when things get hard, for you and for your family. Enter your name and email below and we'll send it straight to your inbox.
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