DBT Ozarks

12/18/2025

Gentle Support for Seasonal Affective Disorder

Supporting Seasonal Affective Disorder doesn’t mean doing more.

Often, it means:
• lowering expectations
• increasing warmth and light
• grounding the body
• slowing the pace
• practicing nonjudgmental awareness

Nature models this beautifully.

Plants don’t push through winter. They rest, conserve, and repair.

Humans are allowed to do the same.

Tomorrow I’ll share how we’re working with this idea in a small, plant-centered meditation.

12/17/2025

Signs of Seasonal Affective Disorder

Seasonal Affective Disorder doesn’t always look like sadness.

It often looks like:
• wanting to sleep more
• low motivation
• emotional flatness
• brain fog
• social withdrawal
• craving comfort

Many people judge themselves for these changes.

But winter affects the nervous system, not your worth or character.

Support starts with understanding. Understanding starts with self-compassion.

12/16/2025

Winter doesn’t just change the weather, it can change how we feel.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is what happens when shorter days and less sunlight start to affect mood, energy, sleep, and motivation.

You might notice:
• feeling more tired
• wanting to stay in more
• lower energy or interest
• feeling heavy, foggy, or “off”
• struggling to focus

If winter feels harder for you, it’s not a personal failure. Your body and brain are responding to the season.

This week I’m sharing gentle ways to support yourself during winter, without forcing positivity or pushing through exhaustion.

🌿 You’re not alone in this.

12/03/2025

Plant Meditation Nights are back in 2026! 🌱

Join us for a quiet 90-minute meditation experience where we use nature, plants, and seasonal metaphors to support emotional balance, presence, and nervous system regulation.

This session is inspired by horticultural therapy principles and DBT mindfulness practices.
We’ll explore the winter cycle of plants — dormancy, energy conservation, and rest — as a mirror for human emotional rhythms, especially during the darker months.

What to Expect:
🌿 Guided meditation
🌿 Reflection and quiet time
🌿 Gentle mindfulness instructions
🌿 Optional journaling or sketching
🌿 A plant to sit with and on to take home
🌿 Light education on the plant–person connection

11/14/2025

On non-clinical days, the plants get to soak up a little extra sunshine. ☀️

10/16/2025

We are offering a 4-week DBT-based mini-series this November for adults who want extra support and structure navigating the stress, emotions, and family dynamics that can come up around the holidays.

🪷 DBT for the Holidays: Interpersonal Effectiveness for Family Season

📅 Tuesdays, Nov 4–Dec 2 (off Thanksgiving week)
🕕 6:00–7:30 PM
📍 DBT Ozarks – Springfield, MO
💵 $50 per session or $180 for all 4 weeks
👥 Limited to 12 participants

This is a short-term, skills-focused class, grounded in DBT interpersonal effectiveness and emotion regulation. Participants will learn tools to:

* Set and maintain healthy boundaries with family

* Cope ahead for emotionally charged gatherings

* Communicate effectively and reduce guilt or people-pleasing

* Stay grounded and aligned with personal values during family interactions

It’s ideal for clients who are emotionally sensitive, in DBT or therapy already, or who simply need more structured coping skills through the holidays.

Facilitator: Kristen Shuler, LCSW
More info & registration:

This 4-week DBT-based group offers practical tools to help you stay grounded, assertive, and connected through the ups and downs of the season.

08/04/2025

The DBT Ozarks Community Team is now welcoming new members!

We're not a clinic or employer — we're a peer-led consultation team and clinical community designed to support therapists like you in practicing high-quality, sustainable DBT with your own clients.

✨ Here's how it works:
You maintain autonomy of your private practice and clients — we provide the structure, support, and community.
Join our weekly DBT consultation team (led by an intensively trained DBT therapist).
Access resources, tools, and trainings that make delivering DBT easier and more effective.
Be listed on our DBT Ozarks community provider page and get connected directly with clients actively seeking DBT services.
No employment contracts or billing complications — this is a membership-based team, not employment.

This is for therapists who are:
✅ DBT-trained or DBT-curious
✅ Tired of working in isolation
✅ Wanting to sharpen their skills and be part of a established DBT community
✅ Interested in helping build DBT access in our region

🔗 Learn more and apply to join: https://www.dbtozarks.org/jointheteam

Let me know if you have questions — I’m happy to chat!

Kristen Shuler, LCSW
Founder DBT Ozarks & DBT Hub.org
DBT Enthusiast!

The DBT Ozarks consultation team acts as a specific community of therapists who are treating a specific community of clients who are receiving Comprehensive DBT services. The consultation team follows national guidelines for providing evidence-based fidelity services.

04/22/2025

🌿 Local therapist friends — I made something special for us.

I’ve poured a lot of love into creating a new in-person workshop that blends two things I care deeply about: mindful presence in therapy, and the quiet wisdom of plants.

Therapeutic Horticulture for Mindfulness in Psychotherapy
📅 Friday, May 2 | 10am–12pm | Springfield, MO
💵 $45 early bird / $55 general
🪴 Register: see link below

This 2-hour workshop is for any therapist who loves plants and wants to learn simple, ethical, and impactful ways to use them in session. You’ll leave with new tools, a printed activity guide, and your own little plant-based creation.

Whether you’re working with trauma, ADHD, burnout, or just want to offer more grounded, sensory regulation skills — I’d love for you to join me.

No gardening experience needed — just curiosity.
Let me know if you have any questions. I’d be so honored to have you there.

— Kristen 🌱

A 2-hour intro workshop for therapists who want to use simple plant-based tools to support mindfulness in session.

04/19/2025

Do you care about someone who feels emotions so deeply that it often leads to conflict, miscommunication, or emotional overwhelm? They are highly sensitive to your tone, and your expressions, making it hard to communicate?

Whether you’re a parent, adult child, partner, or close friend, it can be hard to know how to set boundaries, communicate effectively, or understand what’s really going on beneath the surface.

This group is for you.

Join our Caregiver Support Group, designed specifically for those who love someone with intense emotions. Using practical DBT skills, we’ll help you:

• Set healthy, compassionate boundaries
• Communicate clearly, even in high-stress moments
• Understand the emotional cycles and what helps (and what doesn’t)

We meet online every other Monday from 6:00–7:30 PM CT, starting April 28th. The group runs for 8 sessions and is facilitated by a licensed DBT therapist.

Spots are limited. Schedule a free 15-minute consultation to see if it’s the right fit for you: https://www.dbtozarks.org/caregiversupport

04/14/2025

Feeling stuck in the chaos of daily life? I have a few upcoming openings for DBT therapy.

After working together, my clients are able to complete basic “adulting” tasks with more ease and way fewer emotional roadblocks.

I currently have a few openings for new clients, and I’d love to support you (or someone you know) in reclaiming calm and consistency—without pressure, without shame.

✨ DM me or click below to schedule a free consultation.

You don’t need to do this alone. You just need a space that understands how hard it’s been—and how possible it still is.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/916228

03/03/2025

Online DBT Skills Group for Families of People with BPD or Emotion Dysregulation

I’m currently enrolling for an online DBT skills group designed specifically for caregivers (parents, partners, grandparents, close friends) who support someone struggling with intense emotions. This group provides structured DBT-based guidance to help:

✅ Stay grounded and regulated in emotionally charged situations
✅ Set and maintain healthy boundaries without guilt
✅ Communicate more effectively and de-escalate conflicts
✅ Reduce stress & burnout while fostering a compassionate, stable relationship

📅 Meets every other Monday, 5:30-7:00 PM CST
📍 Online | Missouri residents only
💰 $50 per session | 8-class commitment

If you know someone who could benefit, I’d love to connect and discuss how this group might support & educate them. If you are a person living big emotions, this course will help your loved ones better understand your experiences.

A DBT skills group for parents, partners, and other caregivers of people with Borderline Personality Disorder and other conditions impacting emotion regulation. Meets online and open to residents of Missouri.

02/25/2025

🌿 2 Spots Left – DBT Skills for Plant Lovers! 🌿

Tuesdays at 6 PM CST | DBT Ozarks in Springfield, MO

Whether you feel anxious about therapy; have had negative experiences with counseling; or are more of a hands-on learner, Therapeutic Horticulture + Dialectical Behavior therapy is a way of addressing your needs with a whole-person approach, in a nurturing setting.

🚨 Two spots just opened up!
This small, supportive group meets Tuesday evenings to explore DBT skills through the lens of plant care and personal growth.

You'll Learn to
* Be in control of emotions
* Feel self-assured
* Be able to self-soothe
* Deal with pressures

💡 Message me at (417)261-5682 to inquire or visit us online at https://www.dbtozarks.org/planttherapygroup