Some people do not need more insight into why they react. They need something that works at the moment it is happening. DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy) is a skills-based treatment built for exactly that: intense emotion, impulsive action, and relationships that keep going up in flames. Delivered by a Registered Clinical Counsellor who works with DBT who came to this work through the hard version of it, not a textbook.
Book a Free 15-Min Call No referral required telehealth available across BC no obligationIf your emotions come on faster, harder and longer than other people seem to experience them, that is not a character flaw and it is not something you can think your way out of in the moment. DBT was built for people whose nervous systems run hot. It pairs acceptance with change: you are doing the best you can, and you need to do something different. The work is concrete. You learn specific skills, you practise them between sessions, and you use them in the exact situations that currently go sideways.
The foundation the rest sits on. Learning to see what is happening inside you as it happens, instead of finding out afterward from the wreckage. Not meditation for its own sake. A practical gap between the trigger and the response.
What to do when the feeling is at a nine and you are about to do the thing you will regret. Concrete crisis skills for surviving the peak without making it worse. You do not have to fix the situation to get through it.
Identifying what you are actually feeling, understanding what it is doing for you, and reducing how often you get ambushed in the first place. This is where the intensity starts to come down over time rather than session by session.
Saying what you need, holding a boundary, and disagreeing with someone without the relationship detonating or you folding completely. For people who swing between saying nothing and saying everything.
The core move DBT is named after. You can be doing your genuine best and still need to change. Both are true at once. That stance breaks the all-or-nothing thinking that keeps a lot of people stuck in shame.
DBT is a behavioural treatment. You leave with something to do, not just something to understand. Knowing why you react that way has never once stopped anyone mid-reaction. Rehearsed skills do.
You are doing the best you can with what you were given, and you still need a different set of tools. Both are true. That is the whole point of DBT.
Nicholas van Sabben, RCC | Kamloops, BCDBT is often delivered as a stack of handouts and a tone that treats you like a compliance problem. That version does not work, because the people it is meant for can spot condescension instantly and are usually right to walk out on it.
I am Nicholas van Sabben, a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC #19988) based in Kamloops. I came to this work the long way, through underground mining, emergency services, a serious personal mental health history, and clinical training after all of it. I know what it is to have a feeling arrive at full force and have to do something with it that does not wreck the rest of your life. That is the ground DBT is for.
I work with DBT and EMDR. I do not refer out when a case gets complex, and I do not treat high-acuity presentations as someone else's problem. DBT pairs with EMDR when there is trauma underneath and with ACT for rebuilding a life worth regulating for. No worksheets across a desk, no being told to just breathe through it. A direct, practical way of working from someone who has done the hard version.
As a Registered Clinical Counsellor (RCC), sessions qualify under most extended health benefit plans in BC. This includes major group insurers Manulife, Sun Life, Great-West Life, Desjardins, and most employer or union benefit packages.
Additional coverage: FNHA NIHB direct billing available for eligible First Nations clients. Band Council and MCFD referrals accepted. ICBC MVA claims contact to confirm current eligibility.
No referral required from a physician. First consultation is always free. DBT-informed therapy is delivered in-person in Kamloops or by secure telehealth anywhere in BC. Contact directly to confirm your specific benefit coverage before booking.
What is DBT therapy?
DBT stands for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. It is an evidence-based treatment built around four skill areas: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. It was developed for people who experience emotions more intensely than most and who act on them in ways that cause damage. Unlike purely insight-based therapy, DBT is behavioural: you learn specific skills and practise them in the situations where things currently go wrong.
Is DBT only for borderline personality disorder?
No. DBT was originally developed for BPD and remains the first-line treatment for it, but the skills are not diagnosis-specific. They work for anyone whose emotions run hot and fast, including people dealing with trauma, impulsivity, self-harm, substance use, anger or chronically unstable relationships. You do not need any diagnosis to benefit from DBT skills, and you will not be handed a label to qualify.
What is the difference between DBT and CBT?
CBT focuses largely on changing unhelpful thoughts. DBT keeps that change focus but adds an equal emphasis on acceptance: that you are doing the best you can with what you have, and that change is still necessary. Both are true at once, which is what dialectical means. In practice DBT puts far more weight on tolerating distress in the moment and on concrete skills you rehearse, rather than on reasoning with the thought after the fact.
Is DBT therapy available online in BC?
Yes. DBT skills work well over secure telehealth and are available across British Columbia, as well as in person in Kamloops. Sessions with a BC-licensed RCC are covered by the same extended health benefits as in-person sessions, and no physician referral is required.
A direct conversation to determine fit. You ask what you need to ask. I will tell you clearly whether DBT is right for what you are dealing with, and if it is not, I will point you somewhere better. No sales pitch.
We map what is actually driving the crisis, in order of severity, and build a safety plan and crisis skills before anything else. Skills you have not practised are useless at a nine out of ten. We build them first.
Working through the four skill modules and applying them to the situations that keep going wrong, paired with EMDR or ACT where trauma sits underneath. Progress is tracked and the plan adjusts. In-person in Kamloops or telehealth across BC.
15 minutes. A real conversation. No obligation. If DBT is not the right fit, I will tell you and give you somewhere better to go.
Book Your Free Consult Kamloops in-person Telehealth across BC No referral required