DBT For Parents Program
DBT for Parents - A Comprehensive Program
Parenting a struggling child can be overwhelming, and traditional support or skills groups don’t always address the full picture. Our DBT for Parents Program is a comprehensive, 12-month program designed to help parents feel empowered, supported, and more confident in their parenting.
The program combines three key components: 1) the Foundational Course, 2) weekly parent coaching sessions, and 3) a monthly skills group. Together, these elements provide structured learning, ongoing guidance, and a supportive community to help parents navigate challenges at home.
Our approach balances three essential goals: helping you influence your child’s behavior effectively, maintain strong and connected relationships, and protect your own sense of self. Through evidence-based strategies grounded in DBT principles, parents learn practical tools to reduce conflict, manage stress, and strengthen family relationships.
At The Be Center, we provide a safe, nurturing space where parents can gain insight, build skills, and restore calm and connection in the home. Your parent coach will guide and support you throughout the program, helping your family move toward stability, wellness, and balance together.
What are the parts of the program?
The program is divided into 2 parts, designed to help parents create stability first, addressing more severe problems before focusing on helping their family create new patterns that create balance and allow everyone to thrive. After attending the Foundational Skills Course, parents officially begin our program, learning DBT skills adapted specifically to meet the needs of parents while meeting weekly with a clinician who will guide you through each step by step of the journey.
Part 1 - Calming the Storm
Parents begin their journey in Calming the Storm, a four-month phase focused on bringing more calm and predictability into the home. Parents learn practical tools to lower conflict, respond more effectively during emotional moments, and reduce patterns that keep everyone stuck. The goal is to help daily life feel more manageable and less overwhelming.
Part 2 - Thrive
During Thrive, parents focus on improving day-to-day interactions with their child, setting clear and supportive boundaries, and rebuilding trust and connection. Parents also work toward creating more balance in the home—supporting their child’s growth while protecting their own well-being. Some families may begin our program in Thrive if the home environment is not in crisis and stability has already been established.
The Framework of Our Program
Our program is grounded in the development of Parent Wise Mind—the ability to parent from a grounded, values-based place, even when your child is struggling. Building this takes time. Knowing how to access it during moments of stress, fear, or conflict is even harder. Throughout the entire program, we return to Parent Wise Mind again and again, strengthening your ability to respond thoughtfully rather than react emotionally.
Stabilizing the Environment: We begin by helping parents reduce reactivity and tension in the home. This phase focuses on understanding how fear can drive parenting decisions, the impact of trauma, and patterns that unintentionally keep everyone stuck in problematic behaviors. The goal is to create a calmer, more predictable environment where both parents and children/teens/young adults can begin to feel safer and more regulated.
Transforming the Interaction: As stability increases, parents learn new ways to respond to challenging behaviors. When a child/teen/young adult is emotionally dysregulated, it often leads to cycles of conflict, disconnection, and frustration. By strengthening your own emotion regulation, practicing acceptance, increasing validation, and changing how you respond in difficult moments, you can begin to shift these day-to-day interactions in meaningful ways.
Influencing Behavior & Rebuilding Relationships: With a stronger foundation in place, parents move toward rebuilding connection and influencing behavior more effectively. This phase focuses on improving communication, reducing power struggles, and using collaborative problem-solving to navigate conflict. Parents begin to reconnect with their child/teen/young adult while still holding appropriate limits.
Creating Family Balance: The final focus brings everything together. Parents learn how to support their child’s growth and independence while also attending to their own sense of self and well-being. Family balance means holding space for everyone’s needs—without losing yourself i
Our Guiding Principles
The structure of the program is grounded in building Parent Wise Mind and supported by the core DBT principles of Acceptance and Change. For parents, this also means balancing Curiosity and Limits, helping you stay open, compassionate, and flexible while still providing clear, consistent boundaries.
These core components together will help you Be more mindful and effective as a parent.