🌿 Comprehensive, Stage-Based DBT Programming

at Evolution of Self Counseling

At Evolution of Self Counseling, we offer comprehensive, stage-based Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) programming for adolescents and adults, alongside trauma-informed and integrative services. Our approach is designed to meet clients where they are and support safe, sustainable progress over time.

🧭 Our Stage-Based Model of Care

Treatment is organized into distinct stages, allowing care to be matched to readiness, safety, and clinical needs rather than a one-size-fits-all timeline.

Progression through stages is collaborative and individualized.

🛡 Stage 0.5: DBT – Comprehensive Dissociation Recovery Program (Adults)

Stage 0 DBT is a preparatory phase for adults who experience significant dissociation, identity fragmentation, or nervous system dysregulation that makes standard DBT or trauma processing premature.

🌱 Focus of Stage 0

• 🧠 Increase internal awareness and continuity

• 🛡 Strengthen grounding and stabilization

• 🧩 Reduce fragmentation and crisis behaviors

• 🧭 Build readiness for comprehensive DBT

🧩 Core Components

• 👤 Individual Therapy

• 👥 Group Therapy

• 📞 Phone Coaching

• 🧠 Consultation Team

🧠 Stage 1: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) or Radically Open DBT

🧠 Stage 1: Skills-Based Stabilization & Regulation

Stage 1 focuses on behavioral stabilization and skills acquisition, with treatment matched to each client’s primary regulation pattern.

🔹 Stage 1A: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

For emotional under-control

• 🌊 Distress tolerance

• 🧩 Emotional regulation

• 🤝 Interpersonal effectiveness

• 🧘 Mindfulness

Available for:

• 👧 Adolescents (with caregiver involvement when appropriate)

• 🧑 Adults (in-person and fully virtual options)

🔓 Stage 1B: Radically Open DBT (RO-DBT)

For emotional over-control

RO-DBT is designed for individuals who experience:

• 🏆 High functioning with internal distress

• 📐 Perfectionism and rigidity

• 🌫 Emotional inhibition or social disconnection

RO-DBT emphasizes:

• 🔓 Openness and flexibility

• 🤝 Social signaling and connection

• 💬 Authentic emotional expression

DBT-EMDR & Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)

Stage 2 focuses on direct trauma processing once sufficient emotional regulation, stability, and safety have been established in Stage 1.

This stage is designed for adults who are ready to address trauma memories, body-based threat responses, and conditioned survival patterns—while continuing to rely on DBT-informed skills for support.

🧠 Approaches Used in Stage 2

• 👁 DBT-EMDR
  Integrates DBT stabilization and coping skills with Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to support structured, skills-supported trauma processing.

• 🧭 Deep Brain Reorienting (DBR)
  A neurobiologically informed trauma therapy that works with early, pre-verbal threat responses stored in the brainstem and midbrain. DBR is particularly helpful for individuals who experience:

  • Trauma responses without clear narrative memory

  • Intense body sensations, shutdown, or startle responses

  • Difficulty tolerating traditional exposure-based approaches

DBR emphasizes slowing down, tracking subtle bodily signals, and resolving trauma at its earliest neurological activation point—without requiring emotional flooding or detailed retelling of events.

🌱 Goals of Stage 2

• 🧱 Resolve traumatic activation while maintaining regulation

• 🧠 Reduce automatic threat responses and nervous system reactivity

• 🔄 Increase integration of traumatic experiences

• 🧭 Support transition toward deeper integration and life-building work

Treatment selection within Stage 2 is individualized, and clients may engage in EMDR, DBR, or a combination, depending on clinical presentation and readiness.

🌱 Stages 3 & 4: Evidence-Based Therapies for Ongoing Growth

Stages 3 and 4 focus on building a meaningful life, deepening self-connection, and supporting long-term fulfillment beyond symptom reduction.

Evidence-based approaches may include:

• 🧠 Trauma-informed cognitive and relational therapies

• 🌿 Integrative and attachment-focused modalities

• ✨ Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (when appropriate)

Treatment in these stages is individualized and may include exploration of identity, purpose, values, and relational depth.

🌱 Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

Evolution of Self Counseling partners with Ketamine Solutions to provide Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, with a strong emphasis on preparation, integration, and trauma-informed care.

✨ Clients receiving ketamine services at other locations are welcome for therapy and integration support.

• 💊 Traditional Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy

• 🧠 Ketamine-Assisted Trauma Therapy

🤍 Our Philosophy of Care

We believe effective treatment is:

• 🧭 Stage-based and individualized

• 🛡 Grounded in safety and stabilization

• 🌿 Trauma-informed and dissociation-aware

• ⚖ Balanced with structure, validation, and accountability

Our goal is not just symptom reduction, but sustainable, meaningful change.