St. Louis DBT is dedicated to serving communities in equitable and creative ways
STEP 1
The first step to becoming a new client with St. Louis DBT is to contact us with your questions and allow us to ask a few of our own. This first contact is an opportunity for you to ask questions about our program and fees, discuss insurance concerns, and explore if we are the right choice for you.
STEP 2
Complete our paperwork and schedule your 90-minute intake assessment. Intakes can be done in office or online. Intake assessments consist of a biopsychosocial assessment, review of our treatment models, explanation of how our program operates, and an overview of basic office policies. This is also a chance for us to learn if you meet basic eligibility for outpatient services and if DBT or our other program options are an appropriate treatment plan. We also learn about your personality to fit you with the best therapist on our team to meet your needs.
STEP 3
Following the intake assessment you will be paired with one of our therapists based on clinical need and availability. Individual therapy typically begins within a few weeks of the intake. For group only clients, you will be placed on a waitlist and will start at the beginning of the next available module.
FAQ’s
How long will I have to wait for services?
Due to unprecedented demand for high-quality, evidence-based treatments, we are experiencing a backlog and have created a waitlist. Although we are offering DBT-Informed group programming for people while on the waitlist, getting in to an individual or family therapist may take 1-6 months. Waitlists are longer, unfortunately for our DBT for Teens and Children program. We are diligently trying to hire and train more people to do this important work.
Are you seeing people in person?
We offer both in-person and virtual options. We even have a hybrid DBT Skills group with participants both in-office and at home.
Where are you located?
Our offices are located inside the University Tower Building across from the St. Louis Galleria at 1034 S. Brentwood Blvd. and online via HIPAA compliant Zoom anywhere you are. Please note, most therapists are licensed only in Missouri, but we do have a few licensed in other states. Be sure to ask your client care coordinator if we can serve you if you live outside MO.
Do you take insurance?
Our clinicians are all independent contractors, meaning it is their choice to accept insurance or not. We do have limited in-network options for some clients with Optum, UnitedHealthcare, and Cigna/Evernorth products. Most of our contractors are not in-network with insurance. However, your therapy expenses may still be partially covered by your specific plan’s out-of-network benefits. For more information on accessing your out-of-network benefits, click here. It is worth talking with your insurance company about your particular benefits. Please use this easy to follow worksheet to walk you through a call to your insurance provider regarding your benefits.
What services do you provide?
We provide evidence-based mental health care for individuals, couple, families, and groups. Please see our Services page for more information about the types of programs we offer.
What is DBT?
DBT, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, is an evidence-based treatment to help with emotion regulation. It combines CBT, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with mindfulness, so that people can learn to change what needs to be changed and accept what needs to be accepted. By combining these other two evidence-based treatments, it helps people to emotionally regulate quicker and sustain that regulation over time. It consists of weekly individual therapy and weekly skills group for a minimum of one year and no more than two years. Please visit our page What is DBT for more info.
What ages of clients to you serve?
We have services for children through adulthood. Specialized programs are offered for children as young as 5 years of age, parents wanting to improve their skills to better support their children’s growth, teens, family members of people with BPD, and therapists wanting to learn mindfulness in order to better help themselves and their clients. Please see our Services page for more information about the types of programs we offer.
Do you offer an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP)?
We do not have an official IOP at this time. We specialize in offering personalized mental health care using evidence-based modalities. For clients needing a higher level of care than standard outpatient services, we increase the frequency of individual therapy per week.
What is the cost of treatment?
Each service we offer has a different price tag and each clinician has a different rate based on experience and training, but generally speaking, individual sessions average $130 while group sessions are typically $60-$85. We keep our prices as low as possible and they can be up to 3 times lower than in other parts of the country. Committing to evidence-based treatment has been shown to decrease overall medical costs (mental and physical) significantly in one’s lifetime. Dedicating a bit more money now will pay off if you also have the willingness to fully engage in treatment. Click here for a more detailed breakdown of service costs and available scholarships or request a phone consult to learn more.
What are your hours?
We offer services during the day and evening hours Monday through Saturday.
Can I stay with my current therapist and do DBT?
In most cases, we will ask that new clients transfer into the DBT program fully and we will help you create a plan to return to your current therapist once the DBT program is complete. There are some rare occasions where adjunct specialized care is required in addition to DBT, such as help with an eating disorder or addiction. DBT is clear that more therapy is not necessarily helpful, and can actually create issues for long-term healing. For people struggling with emotion regulation issues, it is important to commit to the DBT program and individual therapy with one therapist.