The whole goal of DBT is to "build a life worth living," as opposed to focusing on treating symptoms or problems, explains Aleta Angelosante , PhD, clinical assistant professor in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone’s Child Study Center, which has the first fully-adherent DBT program for adolescents in Manhattan. Every DBT group opens with a mindfulness exercise, and the concept of being mindful is woven into treatment, Dr. Angelosante says. "We talk about the dance of DBT, because you're toggling between acceptance and change," she says. In DBT therapists try to make people feel like they're validated, so people are comfortable communicating what they think and feel, Wolbert says. Then, they work on a plan for how they will act differently in the future. Dr. Angelosante says everyone can have a different flow within the DBT framework, and that it's not a one-size-fits-all method — but no therapy really is.