Dialectical Behavior Therapies Center

01/11/2026

We are looking for a dedicated, highly skilled clinician (LCSW, LPC, PsyD) to join our team at the DBT Center . The position is long term contract, and involves both telehealth and in-person services, but mainly in-person. The Center provides primarily Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy for teens and adults. Training in DBT preferred. Trauma training and training in eating disorders and somatic experiencing is a plus.

Excellent interpersonal skills, high degree of professionalism, and dedication to quality services for clients required.
No phone calls please. Hourly, rate or salary dependent on degree, experience and training.

Responsibilities
- Conduct individual and group therapy sessions using a variety of therapeutic techniques such as ACT, DBT, RODBT, somatic therapies, behavioral therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy.
- Assess patients' mental health needs and develop personalized treatment plans in a collaborative way
- Maintain accurate and confidential patient records following HIPAA guidelines.
- Collaborate with other healthcare professionals to provide comprehensive care to patients.
- Stay current on best practices in mental health counseling and therapy techniques.
- Provide crisis intervention and coaching to patients in need

-Attend team meetings

-General responsibilities of a private practice clinician

If you think you are a good fit, our team would enjoy talking with you!

Please send resume to Administration@DBTcenterhouston.com

12/29/2025

The start of a new year often comes with a push toward resolutions or a reaction against doing so. After all how often are resolutions kept? But still there is a push to go faster, do more, and keep moving.

Momentum can feel exciting and motivating but without rest it can turn into exhaustion, burnout, or shame when we can’t keep up.

Inner balance isn’t choosing momentum or rest.It’s learning when to move and when to pause.

Momentum helps us build confidence, and follow through on intentions. Small, consistent steps can increase motivation and hope. Rest allows the nervous system to recover, emotions to settle, and insight to emerge. Without rest, momentum becomes unsustainable.

Growth requires recovery. Progress does not happen in a straight line. It happens in waves. Down time is part of the wave of growth, not a failure. I'm valuing rest this year.

Signs you may be out of balance
You feel guilty resting or slowing down
You push through exhaustion to “stay on track”
You avoid starting because you feel too tired
You confuse rest with failure or lack of discipline

Rest is not quitting.
Rest is regulation.

Finding inner balance :
Think in seasons, not sprints: Some periods are for building; others are for restoring.
Use rest strategically: Rest helps momentum last longer, it doesn’t erase it.
Let your body be data: Fatigue, irritability, and numbness are signals, not weaknesses.
Redefine productivity: Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is pause.
Listen to your internal cues, honoring limits, and choosing effectiveness over urgency.

Journal prompts for reflection
What does momentum look like when it’s healthy for me?
How do I know when my body or mind needs rest?
Where have I confused rest with falling behind?
What would sustainable progress look like this year?
A gentle reframe for the new year
You don’t need to earn rest.
You don’t need constant momentum to be moving forward.
You are allowed to pause and still be on your path.

That is inner balance. It includes both movement and rest.

12/16/2025

If you live with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), emotions may feel intense, fast, and overwhelming.

It’s not just feeling deeply—
it’s when one emotion crowds out all the others, making it hard to feel anything else in that moment.

You might feel:
• Angry and unable to access love
• Hurt and unable to remember safety
• Afraid and unable to feel hope

This isn’t a personal failure.
It’s how the nervous system responds when emotions feel threatening or out of control.
Many people can hold mixed emotions at the same time—
sad and grateful
angry and caring
For someone with BPD, emotions can feel all-or-nothing instead.
That’s where Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) can help.
DBT teaches skills to hold two things at once:
✨ “I’m hurt and I still care.”
✨ “This is painful and I can handle it.”
✨ “I need support and I’m learning independence.”
With practice, emotions don’t disappear—
they become less overpowering, making room for balance, choice, and connection.

Emotional balance is a skill.
Skills can be learned.

If intense emotions are affecting your relationships or daily life, support can help.

Reach out to learn more about DBT therapy or to schedule a consultation.
You don’t have to navigate this alone.
713-973-2800 or administration@dbtcenter.com

Center of Houston

12/16/2025

The holiday season often brings both light and heaviness. While there is celebration, connection, and joy, there is also grief, loneliness, financial stress, illness, and loss. Inner balance doesn’t require choosing one over the other. It asks us to hold both.
Compassion for the pain of others and ourselves keeps us human, connected, and empathetic. Allowing ourselves joy sustains our nervous system, replenishes emotional energy, and prevents burnout.
Both are essential—especially during the holidays.

If we over-identify with suffering, we can become emotionally depleted, overwhelmed, or numb. When we avoid pain entirely, joy can become shallow or disconnected. Research on emotional resilience shows that humans are most psychologically healthy when they can experience mixed emotions—sadness and gratitude, grief and joy—at the same time.

Signs you may be out of balance:
You feel guilty enjoying holiday moments because others are struggling
You take on others’ pain but neglect your own needs
You suppress sadness to “stay positive” or keep the mood light
You feel emotionally exhausted or disconnected from joy

To find inner balance during the holidays:
Practice “both/and” thinking: Someone can be hurting and you can experience joy.
Set emotional boundaries: Care deeply without carrying what isn’t yours to hold.
Let joy be restorative: Laughter, warmth, and celebration build resilience—not selfishness.
Offer compassion with limits: Presence matters more than over-giving.

Journal prompts for reflection:
Where do I feel pulled to carry more pain than is mine?
What small moments of joy help me feel grounded and present?
How can I honor others’ struggles while still allowing myself rest and pleasure?
What would compassionate boundaries look like this season?

A gentle reminder
You are allowed to feel joy even when the world is hurting.
You are allowed to rest even when others are struggling.
You are allowed to hold compassion without abandoning yourself.

That is inner balance.

11/18/2025

Are you someone who is always supporting others? Or are you usually protecting yourself and avoiding others?

Supporting others is a beautiful expression of love and kindness, yet constantly doing so can leave you tired and drained. Always protecting yourself can be lonely and tiring too.

Supporting others and protecting yourself don't need to be opposites but can be partners in compassion. The balance leads to contentment and being a contributor to our community of humans.

Both matter.

Acts of kindness and compassion, when in balance, can give you a sense of well‑being, improve your mood and self‑esteem, and even reduce stress. It may even be a calling for you. Helping others creates a sense of belonging and strengthens social connections and strengthens the community. Is your support of others meeting your values and building your connections or are you feeling imprisoned? If you are feeling imprisoned, it is out of balance for you.

Not allowing others to use you or control you with their needs is important for your well-being. Only you can know your balance between supporting others and protecting yourself. Everyone is different.

When you pay attention to how much you can support others and still protect your own needs, you build confidence, clarity and peace.
Giving beyond your means can lead to misery and exhaustion.

Ask whether you’re helping from genuine care or from guilt or obligation. Be kind in ways that feel good to you as well as benefit others. If your support of others isn't feeling consistent with your values and like a gift to you as well as the other person--reconsider your balance.
Journal prompts:
“When I support others, how does it make me feel?”
“Where do I need clearer boundaries to protect my wellbeing?”
“What is one small act of kindness I can do this week that also honours my own needs?”

Finding balance means pouring kindness into the world while refilling your own cup. Protecting yourself ensures your support for others remains healthy, joyful and sustainable.

11/18/2025

Do you ever feel like you are half living your life or living robotically from one task to another? Do. you hide who you really are?

We all carry invisible blocks that keep us from being our truest selves:

The voices telling us we're "too much" or "not enough" or that we're weird or unloveable.

Fear of judgment and what others might say that keeps us playing small. Fear of failure and fear of the unknown keep us locked in a cage too. We get stuck in old patterns learned from our childhood, from our culture and the world we know. Sometimes it fits and that's great. But sometimes it doesn't.

The exhausting masks we wear to fit in
didn't appear overnight—and they won't disappear that way either.

Therapy isn't about fixing what's broken. It's about uncovering who you've always been and who you are meant to be beneath the layers of expectations, trauma, and conditioning. It's a space where you can:
Explore the beliefs holding you back
Understand why you abandon yourself to please others
Learn to trust your own voice again Practice being authentic without apology

The world will always have opinions about who you should be. Therapy helps you remember who you truly are and gives you the tools to live from that place.
Your truest self is waiting. And you are worth the journey.

11/08/2025

Striking a balance between doing it all yourself and leaning on others is key to mental wellbeing. Independence empowers you to make decisions, pursue personal interests and take responsibility for your emotions. But trying to do life all on your own doesn't work very well.

Too much independence can lead to emotional distance, loneliness and perhaps resentment at the heavy load you carry.

However, too much dependence can erode your identity and create codependency. You may lose your sense of who you are and feel controlled. That can build resentment too.

Balance: A healthy relationship integrates individuality with collaboration—what relationship experts call interdependence. What your healthy interdependence looks like only you can know. It will be influenced by your culture and your values.

This dynamic recognizes that both partners/friends can thrive as a “we” while preserving personal identity.

How to cultivate balance:
Maintain your identity: Pursue your interests, own your opinions, and set personal goals outside of your relationships to the extent that works for you.
Ask for and offer support: If you tend to be hyper‑independent, practice asking for help or delegating tasks; trusting others broadens your perspective.

Take responsibility for yourself: If you lean on others too much, build self‑trust by making decisions, expanding your social circle and practicing self‑care

Communicate and set boundaries: Discuss your needs openly; healthy boundaries prevent suffocation and ensure both feel respected

Embrace interdependence: Celebrate mutual support, shared decisions and vulnerability while retaining your uniqueness--however that works best for you

Which way do you lean? Are you in balance for your own needs?
Journal prompts:
“When do I feel empowered by my independence? When does it feel lonely?”
“How does leaning on someone else support my growth? When might it hold me back?”
“What boundaries help me honour my needs while staying connected?”

Balance isn’t about choosing one over the other—it’s about integrating independence and interdependence so you can stand on your own and lean in when needed.

11/03/2025

e all oscillate between trusting our abilities and questioning them. Both experiences have value: self‑belief fuels confidence and motivation, while self‑doubt—in moderation—keeps us humble, curious and open to growth. The goal is to find a healthy middle ground.

Why both matter:
Self‑belief: People who believe in themselves tend to develop deeper interest in their activities and are able to have a stronger commitment to their goals. They recover quickly from setbacks and view challenges as opportunities. Believing you can succeed affects how you think, behave and feel.

Self doubt leads to avoiding challenges, focusing on failures, giving up and losing confidence

Healthy self‑doubt. While too much can paralyze you, none at all can lead to overconfidence, arrogance and a closed mind to feedback and the ideas of others.

Mild to moderate doubt motivates you to broaden your knowledge and inspires curiosity. Healthy questioning of yourself can enhance self‑insight, humility, empathy and resilience

How to cultivate balance:
Celebrate wins: Acknowledge your successes to strengthen your self‑efficacy.

Positive self‑talk: Encourage yourself and seek supportive, helpful feedback
Reframe doubt: When doubts arise, treat them as an invitation to learn rather than a stop sign. Ask what new skill or knowledge would help.

Take action anyway: Don't let uncertainty stop you. Small steps build courage and resilience and learning.
Stay humble: Use self‑doubt to remain open to other perspectives, learning and growth

Journal prompts:
“When has believing in myself led to growth?”
“How has self‑doubt encouraged me to learn or refine my skills?”
“What supportive message can I tell myself the next time I feel unsure?”

10/27/2025

he balance between speaking your truth and honoring others' feelings is one of life's most delicate balancing acts.

Honesty builds trust and authentic connections. When you speak truthfully, you honor your own values and allow others to know the real you. Honest shows respect—assuming others can handle reality rather than needing to be protected from it. Not speaking your truth can build resentment. However, brutal honesty without consideration can damage relationships and hurt people unnecessarily.

Kindness acknowledges that words have impact. Considering how your message will land shows caring for others' wellbeing. Truth with gentleness helps people actually hear what you're saying instead of becoming defensive.

When honesty and kindness are out of balance, communication breaks down. Pure honesty without kindness becomes cruelty disguised as "just being real." Pure kindness without honesty becomes people-pleasing and inauthenticity. True balance means speaking truth in a way that respects both your integrity and the other person's humanity.

1. Check Your Intention. Ask yourself: "Am I saying this to help or to hurt?

2. Focus on Impact, Not Just Intent. Be honest about your perspective while acknowledging how your words affect others. Try: "I want to be honest about something, and I want you to know that I value you."

4. Use "and" statements to hold express both and kindness. "This is hard to say AND it's important we talk about it."

Journal Prompts
When have I been honest in a way that hurt someone unnecessarily? How could I have been kinder and still truthful?

When have I been "too kind" by avoiding honesty? What did I fear would happen if I spoke up? What happened as a result?

Balancing honesty and kindness isn't about choosing one over the other—it's about weaving them together. Speak your truth with care. Remember that the goal isn't just to be heard, but to be understood and maintain connection.

10/27/2025

When we talk about what hurts with a trusted, safe person, we begin to heal. So many people stay silent out of fear — fear of being judged, dismissed, or “too much.” But naming what we feel doesn’t make us weak. It makes us human. Experiencing our emotions allows us to move forward.

Emotions are information, not problems to be solved. It's feedback to you on what's important to you, and perhaps what's missing in your life. Can you listen to your emotions? What is it they are trying to tell you?

You don’t have to hide what’s human about you — your vulnerability is the starting place for real change.

Learn more: www.houstondbtcenter.com

10/14/2025

10/09/2025

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