If your feelings hit hard and fast, and the fallout damages your relationships and your sense of self, there’s a proven approach built for exactly this. DBT teaches concrete skills for riding out intense emotions, staying steady in a crisis, and building the life you want.
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What DBT helps with
DBT was developed for people who feel emotions more intensely than most, and it has since helped with a wide range of struggles. It’s practical, skills-based, and built for real life.
Emotions that hit like a wave
and sweep you under
Your feelings come on fast and powerful, and in the moment, they take over completely. By the time the wave passes, you've often said or done something you regret, and the aftermath piles on.
Relationships that keep
getting damaged
The intensity spills into the people you love. Conflicts escalate, words cut deep, and afterward, you're left with guilt and distance. You want closeness, but the storms keep getting in the way.
A crisis that feels unbearable
in the moment
When the distress peaks, it feels like you can't survive it, and you reach for whatever makes it stop. DBT teaches concrete skills for getting through those moments without making things worse.
An unstable sense of
who you are
Your sense of self shifts with your moods and your relationships. You're not always sure what you feel, what you want, or who you are underneath it all, and that uncertainty is exhausting.
Impulses that take over
In the heat of an intense feeling, you act in ways that bring momentary relief but lasting harm. You know the pattern, and you want a different way to handle the urge when it hits.
Feeling like you're "too much"
You've been told you're too sensitive, too intense, too emotional. DBT starts from a different place: that your emotions make sense, and that you can learn to work with them rather than being ruled by them.
Why DBT is different
The “dialectical” in DBT points to its core idea: that two things can be true at the same time. You are doing the best you can, and you can learn to do better. You deserve acceptance exactly as you are, and change is possible. DBT holds both, which is part of what makes it so effective for people who feel emotions intensely.
Rather than treating big emotions as a problem to eliminate, DBT teaches you concrete, practical skills for working with them. You learn to tolerate distress without making it worse, to regulate your emotions before they take over, to communicate your needs without damaging your relationships, and to stay present in your own life. These are learnable skills that change things.
How DBT works
DBT is a well-established, evidence-based therapy with strong research support, especially for intense emotions and the struggles that come with them. It’s built around four core skill areas, and your therapist guides the work with warmth and without judgment.
Mindfulness
We start by building your ability to notice what’s happening inside you, in the present moment, without being swept away by it. This awareness is the foundation on which all the other skills are built.
Distress tolerance
We teach concrete skills for getting through crisis moments without making them worse. When the wave hits and you can’t fix the situation, you’ll have practical tools to ride it out safely.
Emotion regulation
We work to understand your emotions and reduce their intensity before they take over. You learn to recognize what you’re feeling and to respond in ways that serve you rather than harm you.
Interpersonal effectiveness
We build skills for navigating relationships, asking for what you need, setting boundaries, and handling conflict without damage. Closeness becomes possible without the storms.
Life during DBT
What surprises many people about DBT is how practical it is. You don’t just talk about your emotions; you learn specific, concrete tools you can use the next time a wave hits. That can bring relief early, simply because you finally have something that works in the moment.
Within the first several sessions, people often find they can get through a distressing moment without making it worse, even just once or twice. Each time the skills work, it builds confidence. You start to trust that the storms are survivable and that you have a way through them.
The bigger changes build over time. The emotional waves become less overwhelming. The relationships that kept getting damaged are starting to stabilize. And the sense that you’re “too much” gives way to the understanding that you’ve simply been working without the right tools until now.
Life after DBT
You ride the waves without drowning
Intense emotions still come, but they no longer take you under. You have the skills to get through the hardest moments without making them worse, and the aftermath you used to dread happens far less often.
Your relationships steady
You learn to ask for what you need, set boundaries, and handle conflict without causing damage. The closeness you’ve wanted becomes possible because the storms that kept getting in the way have calmed.
You feel more solid in yourself
As your emotions become more manageable, your sense of who you are grows steadier. You know what you feel and what you want, and you stop being at the mercy of every passing wave.
Your emotions make sense. You can learn to work with them.
The team
At Inspire Wellness Therapy, DBT is delivered by experienced, fully credentialed practitioners who bring both clinical skill and genuine warmth to the work.
Shaambhavi Sharma
Registered Social Worker
Helena Morris
Registered Psychologist
Our space
You’re already doing the hard part by showing up. Our Calgary office is designed to do the rest, with quiet rooms, soft light, and a sense of privacy that lets you settle in before the session even begins.
Dorchester Square · 1333 8 Street SW, Calgary
Our services & fees
Individual Therapy
30 minutes
$125
50 minutes
$225
90 minutes
$300
Relationship Therapy
50 minutes
$225
90 minutes
$300
Family Therapy
50 minutes
$225
90 minutes
$300
A free 15-minute call is the easiest first step. We’ll listen first, then help you find the right support for what you’re going through.
What DBT helps with
DBT supports a range of experiences, especially those involving intense emotions. Each page goes deeper into what we work on together.
Trauma
When the past keeps showing up in the present, uninvited.
Anxiety
When worry won't switch off, even when you want it to.
Relationships
When you love each other but keep missing each other.
Identity and Life Transitions
When the ground shifts and you're figuring out who you are now.
Self-worth
When the hardest voice to quiet is the one in your own head.
Depression
When everything feels heavier than it should and lightness feels far away.
Works alongside DBT
DBT pairs naturally with other approaches, depending on what you’re working through.
Good to know
DBT stands for Dialectical Behavioural Therapy. "Dialectical" refers to its central idea, that two opposite things can be true at once, most importantly, that you can accept yourself exactly as you are and work toward change at the same time.
DBT was originally developed for people who experience emotions very intensely, and it remains especially effective for that. But the skills it teaches- managing distress, regulating emotions, and navigating relationships- are valuable for a wide range of people and challenges.
Yes. DBT is a well-established, evidence-based therapy with strong research support, particularly for intense emotions and the difficulties that accompany them. It's widely used in clinical settings.
DBT grew out of CBT and shares its practical, skills-based approach. The main difference is DBT's strong emphasis on acceptance alongside change, and its specific focus on managing intense emotions, tolerating distress, and improving relationships.
Yes. The DBT skills work well in an online format, and many of our clients across Alberta and British Columbia meet with us virtually. In-person sessions are also available at our Calgary office.
Our sessions are covered by most extended health plans. Coverage depends on your specific plan, so it's worth checking what your provider includes for your therapist's designation. We also offer direct billing to 9 major insurers.
It's a free, no-pressure conversation where we learn a little about what you're going through and help you find the right therapist for it. There's no commitment and nothing to prepare. Just a chance to ask questions and see if it feels like a fit.
In a crisis, please call 911, or call or text 9-8-8 (Suicide Crisis Helpline), available 24/7. Inspire Wellness Therapy does not provide emergency services.
Begin when you're ready
Book a free discovery call, and we’ll help you find the right DBT therapist for what you’re working through. No commitment, no pressure. Just a conversation about where you are and what might be possible.
In person at our Calgary office · Online across Alberta and British Columbia · Direct billing is available to 9+ insurers
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Inspire Wellness Therapy respectfully acknowledges that what we call Alberta is the traditional and ancestral territory of many peoples, presently subject to Treaties 6, 7, and 8. We acknowledge the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations.
We are all-inclusive, striving to create safe, affirming, and anti-oppressive spaces to welcome and provide equal care for all members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities.
