Discover how starting dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) therapy can support your own journey toward a happier, more fulfilling life.
2 therapists available in Alexandria
With over 30 years of counseling experience, I look forward to assisting you in working through your issues to achieve positive ou...
About
With over 30 years of counseling experience, I look forward to assisting you in working through your issues to achieve positive outcomes.
Mary Alice Fields is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) who has 30 years of experience counseling couples, families, and individuals. Mary Alice completed her Master of Education (MEd) at Lindsey Wilson College.
Mary Alice believes most people do the best they can with the knowledge and experience they possess. At times in our lives, our knowledge and experience are not enough to solve problems and live our most productive life. At times like this, collaboration with a licensed professional counselor can help us discover ways to solve issues and achieve our full potential. Changing our perception of issues can be most helpful. By adjusting our thought process, we can begin to see our problems in a new light, and discover solutions to seemingly insurmountable issues.
Again, collaboration with a counselor can assist in this process. Old thought patterns can be replaced with new, healthier thought patterns that help us live our best life. The most important thing necessary to get you on your way to a more productive life is an open mind and a willingness to change. As a counselor, Mary Alice is your partner in ushering in this change. She cannot solve your problems, but she can and will assist you in learning new ways to achieve your goals.
Education and training
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There is hope in every situation and when there is no open door you can always find a window....
There is hope in every situation and when there is no open door you can always find a window.
Letizia Fariss is a Resident in Counseling with 10 years of experience in nursing. Letizia has a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Liberty University. Through nursing, she has cared for people with mental health issues including PTSD, addictions, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, dementia, Alzheimer’s, and palliative and hospice care. Letizia has lived in and traveled to many European and Middle Eastern countries, which means that she’s seen a wide variety of cultures and ethnicities. As a result, she knows that everyone has varying beliefs and values and appreciates that uniqueness.
Letizia is also the wife of an Army veteran and everyone in her family has served or is still serving on active duty. As a result, she is very skilled at handling stressful situations, especially trauma and PTSD. Her personal experiences, coupled with her professional training in trauma, enable her to provide the needed support to her clients.
Letizia has endured many unique and difficult hardships that have equipped her to show profound compassion to her clients and empower them to overcome the challenges of life.
You deserve dedicated time with a mental health professional — it can be life-changing.
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My go-to approach for helping people in dialectical behavior therapy is helping them understand that there are various stressors that impact everyone. I prefer and enjoy the benefit of seeing clients embrace their stressors and understand what is in and out of their control.
Tools used in dialectical behavior therapy are grounding techniques, the here-and-now (learning how to be present), and distress tolerance.
The client's own verification, a parent's confirmation of the child's behavior, and/or my own observation help me identify meaningful progress from the client.
To supplement DBT, clients can be open to change, deciding whether they want to move on or move forward in life and if they are ready to do so through DBT treatment.
In preparing to start DBT, one should come to therapy with questions, nervousness, and all of their feelings and be open to sharing without judgment, understanding that change and therapy take time.
At Thriveworks, Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) primarily concentrates on assisting individuals in emotion regulation, enhancing interpersonal relationships, and acquiring effective coping strategies for managing stress and emotional difficulties.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) targets your personal challenges. You may work with your DBT therapist to maintain diary cards to monitor progress, emphasizing validation and support in the therapeutic relationship. DBT follows a stage-based approach, prioritizing crisis reduction initially and life satisfaction.
DBT was initially developed to address the needs of individuals with borderline personality disorder (BPD). However, its versatile approach has enabled its application to a wide range of mental health conditions, including but not limited to, anxiety, depression, stress, and anger issues.
The 4 pillars of DBT are mindfulness, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness, and distress tolerance.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) have distinct purposes and aren’t inherently superior or inferior to one another. DBT is most effective for managing emotional regulation, personality disorders, and interpersonal challenges, while EMDR is specifically tailored for individuals with trauma-related conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) with therapists at Thriveworks in Alexandria, VA is conducted both in person and online by video. We encourage you to choose the option that works best for you.
The duration of a standard DBT program is typically around 24 weeks, which is roughly six months. The actual number of sessions will vary depending on the issues you wish to address.
Includes individual, couples, child/ teen, & family therapy
Includes reducing symptoms with medication & management
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