Make More Friends (and Reduce Social Anxiety) with Mindfulness 

By Marielle Berg | May 9, 2018
make more friends reduce anxiety

Want more friends? Have you ever gone to a social gathering in the hope of connecting with new people… but wanted to leave after several frustrating interactions where you just can’t seem to “click” with anyone? Sometimes it can seem like the harder we try to reach out and connect with others, the more lonely…

What Happens in Couples Therapy

By Marielle Berg | April 25, 2018
Read this post by San Francisco Couples Therapists to learn what you can expect from your couples therapy sessions.

Wondering what happens in couples therapy? You’re having a having a hard time in your relationship. You know you and your partner could use some help but you’re nervous about starting counseling. This is completely normal! Starting couples therapy can feel a bit daunting. You’re about to tell a complete stranger, your therapist, all about…

How to practice Radical Acceptance

By Marielle Berg | December 21, 2017
Learn how to practice radical acceptance, a DBT skill, from Bay Area DBT and Couples Counselling Center

Radical acceptance is a transformative skill we teach in our San Francisco Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills group. Therapy is usually focused on change. And of course, you will work on change in therapy. But sometimes there are things in life we can’t change, or can’t immediately change. Sometimes we need to accept what feels…

Radical Acceptance: A life-changing DBT skill

By Marielle Berg | December 14, 2017
Learn about the Radical Acceptance skill this San Francisco therapist teaches in their DBT skills group.

In our San Francisco Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills group, one of the most life-changing skills we teach is called Radical Acceptance. What is Radical Acceptance? Radical Acceptance is accepting what is – exactly as it is. It is saying yes to reality. It is saying yes to both reality as it is right now…

Is mood dependent behavior impacting your life?

By Marielle Berg | December 7, 2017
The effects of mood dependent behavior and what you can do to change | San Francisco Dialectical Behavior Therapy

In our San Francisco therapy practice, we often see people who struggle with emotional overwhelm, or emotional dysregulation. Do you have a hard time getting things done when you’re upset? Can an argument with your partner wreck your whole day? Does it sometimes feel like your moods get in the way of you living your…

How can I be Happy?

By Marielle Berg | November 30, 2017
Tips on how to be happy from a San Francisco therapist.

Our San Francisco therapists are often asked the question, “How can I be happy?” You’ve probably wondered the same thing. We all have a drive towards increasing happiness and decreasing pain. You may fantasize that something external will bring you happiness – making more money, getting in shape, a new relationship or a beach vacation.…

How to not be a prisoner of your own mind

By Marielle Berg | November 16, 2017
Using one of the DBT distress tolerance skills, Mindfulness of Current Emotions, you can help free yourself from being a prisoner of your own mind.

How to free yourself from being a prisoner of your own mind In our DBT skills group in San Francisco, we teach group members many different distress tolerance skills to ride out an emotional storm or crisis. A crisis in DBT is a moment where you are in danger of doing something you’ll later regret.…

How Distraction is Good for You: Using DBT’s crisis survival skill 


By Marielle Berg | November 9, 2017

In our San Francisco Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) groups, we teach people how distraction can actually be good for you. What?
 Isn’t distraction bad for you? You’ve probably heard a lot about how distraction is bad for you. About how having your attention pulled in a million different directions leaves you feeling scattered, unfocused and…

How to begin dreaming: Building a life worth living in DBT (Part 3)

By Marielle Berg | May 4, 2017
Learn how to begin dreaming – in Part 3 of 3 in the series ‘Building a life worth living in DBT

Part 1 of this series of building a life worth living focused why it’s so important to get in touch with your dreams. Part 2 focused on why it’s sometimes hard to dream. In this post, you’ll learn how to begin dreaming if you’ve lost touch with that part of yourself. How to begin dreaming…

Why it’s hard to dream: Building a life worth living in DBT (Part 2)

By Marielle Berg | April 27, 2017
Part 2 of 3 in the series ‘Building a life worth living in DBT’ – learn why it’s hard to dream.

In our last post, we talked about why it’s so important to begin Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) by figuring out what your life worth living looks like. Not what other people think your life should look like. What you want. And to do this, you have to be able to dream. Let’s look at why…