What is the cost of group?
Adult groups: $110/group; group screening - $325
Middle school and teen groups: $115/group; group screening - $350
* Groups are charged like tuition for a class - you are responsible for paying for ALL groups in a module from the point at which you begin.
Do you take insurance?
We do not take any forms of insurance. We require that all group members place a credit card (or HSA/FSA card) on file and our administrative assistant charges for services used each week. We email you an out-of-network billing statement at the close of each month that you can use to seek out of network reimbursement for group services.
Good Faith Estimate
You have the right to receive a “Good Faith Estimate” explaining how much your medical care will cost. Under the law, health care providers need to give patients who don’t have insurance or who are not using insurance an estimate of the bill for medical items and services. You have the right to receive a Good Faith Estimate for the total expected cost of any non-emergency items or services. This includes related costs like medical tests, prescription drugs, equipment, and hospital fees. Please notify your therapist if you would like to receive a Good Faith Estimate in writing least 1 business day before your scheduled service. You can also ask your health care provider, and any other provider you choose, for a Good Faith Estimate before you schedule a service. If you receive a bill that is at least $400 more than your Good Faith Estimate, you can dispute the bill. Make sure to save a copy or picture of your Good Faith Estimate. For questions or more information about your right to a Good Faith Estimate, visit www.cms.gov/nosurprises or call 404-666-4434.
What are requirements for joining group?
There are two requirements for joining group: a completed group screening and individual therapy.
Group screening: In order to join group you must first have a group screening which will allow us to determine if we are the best fit for you needs. If for any reason we determine one of our groups is not the best fit then we will help you find other resources (i.e., one on one skills training, another group, a different therapeutic modality, etc.).
Individual therapy: You must be currently engaged in individual therapy (have had at least one session with an individual therapist with plans to continue) in order to join group. Our requirements for the frequency of individual therapy will be based on the recommendation of your individual therapist (i.e., if your individual therapist recommends biweekly sessions – or some other frequency - then that is acceptable for joining group).
* The ONLY exception to this requirement is for our middle school group – NO individual therapy is required for middle schoolers to join (however, most of our middle school students tend to find that some individual therapy in addition to group is often helpful). If we have significant concerns about your child’s degree of emotional distress or unhealthy behaviors then we may require individual therapy to continue in group.
What skills are you currently teaching?
We are currently teaching Emotion Regulation (Winter/Spring 2023) for all adult groups.
We teach according to the following yearly schedule:
Adults: Summer (Jun through Aug) - Distress Tolerance; Fall (Sept through mid-Dec) - Interpersonal Effectiveness; Winter/Spring - (Jan through Apr) Emotion Regulation
Teens/Middle School: Fall semester - Mindfulness, Middle Path, & Distress Tolerance; Winter/Spring semester - Emotion Regulation & Interpersonal Effectiveness
* We typically offer shorter term teen “booster” groups and/or a college prep group (rising freshman or sophomores) in summer months rather than our regular teen groups
How are groups structured?
Groups are 90 minutes each and typically follow a four part format: brief check in, homework review, short mindfulness exercise, and teaching of new skills (using power points and handouts like a class).
1) Check ins: We start all of our groups with brief check ins (3-5 minutes per group member). We find that having this context for our members is helpful as we discuss and troubleshoot the skills. This allows us to illustrate skills with example that are targeted to group members’ current experiences and also creates the opportunity for connectedness and support.
2) Homework review: DBT utilizes homework “worksheets” on a daily basis that help group members practice the skills “in the real world.” Most group members find homework review to be an incredibly helpful part of group and want to hear what other members’ did, how they did, what worked and what did not. There is no one “right” way to use skills and hearing someone’s personal take on a skill that made it more effective is an invaluable part of group.
3) Mindfulness: Most groups include a 5 minute mindfulness exercise. The point of this is to give group members regular mindfulness practice and the opportunity to experience a variety of ways to do mindfulness so they can begin to get ideas about what kind of mindfulness is most effective for them.
4) Skills teaching: The last 30-45 minutes of group time is used to teach skills – using power points, handouts, and discussion like a classroom experience. We often tell group members that the DBT skills are not “rocket science” – most of group members get the concepts quickly – it’s the application that can be difficult. For that reason we often blend processing into our skills teaching – asking group members to consider and share experiences that are relevant and may impact their skill use (i.e., as we teach the distress tolerance self-soothing skill we typically talk about group members’ reactions to that skill – do they feel guilty self-soothing? Believe they must earn it first? Only use it during times they’re not actually in distress? Have any healthy modeling for self-soothing in their family of origin? Etc.).
How often do we meet? And how long will I be in group?
Groups meet weekly for a full module (14-16 weeks). When you join group we require that you commit to one full module at a time. At the end of that module you decide if you would like to continue with the following module. The majority of our group members complete all 3 modules over one year and many group members find that repeating the modules is incredibly helpful for mastering the skills and ensuring they become more reflexive and less effortful. Additionally, the skills sets tend to support each other – if your day to day emotional experience is more even (emotion regulation) then you are less likely to have overwhelming intense emotions or crises (distress tolerance skills) and with fewer intense emotional experiences, relationships are often smoother (interpersonal effectiveness) and when relationships are more stable, meet needs, and feel good then the day to day emotion regulation is easier….
That being said, there is no pressure to continue beyond one module if that is your preference or you find our groups are not the right fit for you.
Do you provide individual therapy?
Daily DBT provides group therapy only. If you are interested in individual therapy (that may or may not include DBT skills), all of our therapists provide individual therapy services through Edwards Psychological Associates. Please note that we do not provide a fully comprehensive DBT program (which includes DBT groups, individual DBT therapy, and DBT phone coaching outside of regular appointment times). There are number of other excellent DBT programs in Atlanta that offer comprehensive DBT.