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Depression

Skills For Anxiety, Depression, Boundaries, And Emotional Overwhelm

Big feelings don’t always arrive with a warning. One moment you’re fine, the next you’re flooded with emotion, shut down, or saying something you didn’t plan to say. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) gives you a toolkit for those moments: practical skills for tolerating distress, regulating emotion, and staying present instead of getting swept away. People often turn to DBT for anxiety, depression, chronic people-pleasing, relationship conflict, and the exhaustion of feeling emotionally maxed out.
As an Aetna in-network provider, our team at KLS Collective offers remote DBT-informed therapy to clients across New York.
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What DBT Can Help With

DBT can be helpful if you are struggling with any of the following:

  • Anxiety that feels difficult to calm

  • Depression and low motivation

  • Emotional sensitivity

  • Feeling overwhelmed or reactive

  • Difficulty drawing boundaries

  • People pleasing

  • Relationship stress

  • Fear of conflict

  • Self-criticism and shame

  • Impulsive reactions

  • Feeling stuck between shutting down and blowing up

DBT does not expect you to stop having emotions, as that is neither respectful nor realistic. Instead, it guides you to notice what is going on, slow things down, and respond in a way that is more consistent with your values.
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DBT Help

KLS Collective Therapy Group Therapist Team

Geralyn Valonzo new

Geralyn Valonzo

LCSW

Experienced in: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Person Centered Therapy, Supportive Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Trauma Informed Therapy

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Matthew Louie_new

Matthew Louie

LMSW

Experienced in: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Person Centered Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Supportive Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy.

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Liz Davis_New

Liz Davis

LMSW

Experienced in: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), CBT for Insomnia (CBT-I), Person Centered Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Somatic Therapy, Trauma Informed Care, Supportive Therapy, Sleep Therapy.

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Marcy_new

Marcy Ruland

LCSW

Experienced in: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Person Centered Therapy, Humanistic, Positive Psychology, Strengths-Based Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Supportive Therapy, Culturally Sensitive, Motivational Interviewing.

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How DBT Works

DBT focuses on building skills in four areas:

Mindfulness

Being present helps you notice your thoughts, emotions, and how you feel in your body, making you more aware of your reactions. This awareness is useful during anxiety, depression, or negative cycles.
Before you can feel more in control over your emotions, it’s important to understand them. DBT helps you reduce emotional intensity, spot patterns, and take care of yourself before reaching a breaking point.

Building resilience, along with distress tolerance, helps you navigate hard times. Rather than reacting in ways that create problems, you feel more insightful and positive. These skills help during conflict, panic, grief, rejection, burnout, or when life feels intense.

This skill helps communication and defining boundaries. You learn to ask for what you need, say no, and navigate conflict in relationships while staying authentic.

DBT For Anxiety

Anxiety has a way of making everything feel like an emergency, even when it isn’t. DBT helps you create a pause between the alarm bell and your reaction, so you can respond from a steadier place.

In this work, you might focus on:

  • Recognizing your own anxiety patterns as they show up

  • Building tools that help you feel grounded in the moment

  • Working through panic and emotional highs and lows

  • Facing avoidance instead of feeding it

  • Getting more comfortable sitting with uncertainty

  • Making choices based on your values, not on doubt or fear

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DBT for Depression

DBT For Depression

Depression can turn even small tasks into something exhausting, and connection can start to feel out of reach. DBT works with the energy you actually have, building toward small, realistic steps.

Sessions may focus on:

  • Building small routines that add stability to harder days

  • Gently working against the pull toward isolation

  • Getting familiar with your own mood patterns

  • Practicing self-compassion

  • Bringing small pockets of meaning back into daily life

  • Addressing hopeless or self-critical thoughts as they arise

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DBT For Boundaries And Relationships

If you’re used to carrying the weight of everyone else’s emotions, DBT offers a different way forward. Instead of over-explaining, apologizing for things that don’t need an apology, or pulling away entirely, you learn how to hold a boundary and let it stand on its own.

In this work, you might focus on:

  • Saying no without guilt or a lengthy justification

  • Naming your needs clearly

  • Moving through conflict without shutting down or over-explaining

  • Breaking the habit of people-pleasing at your own expense

  • Treating your own needs with the same respect you give everyone else’s

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Virtual DBT Therapy In New York: In-Network with Aetna

Because we’re in-network with Aetna insurance, starting DBT doesn’t have to come with a complicated insurance process. If big emotions, anxiety, depression, or boundary struggles have been running the show, this work can help you build the skills to respond instead of react.
Contact us to get started with DBT therapy in New York, using your Aetna benefits.
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Frequently Asked Questions

Do you offer in-person or virtual Dialectical Behavior Therapy sessions in New York?

We offer online therapy sessions. We do not offer in-person sessions.

Are you in-network with Aetna insurance?

Yes, our therapists at KLS Collective are in-network with Aetna insurance.

Are you in-network with any other insurance providers in New York?

Yes. In addition to being in-network with Aetna, we are also in-network with: MVP Health Care, CDPHP, and Fidelis insurance providers in New York.

Do I need a referral from my doctor to use my Aetna benefits for DBT therapy?

Usually not. Most Aetna insurance plans allow direct access to mental health providers without a referral, though it can vary by plan. Aetna can confirm what’s required for your specific coverage.

Does Aetna cover virtual/telehealth DBT sessions for members located in New York?

Yes, Aetna generally covers telehealth behavioral health services for members in New York, including virtual DBT sessions.

If I don’t have insurance, do you offer a sliding scale for clients?

Yes, we offer a sliding scale for clients if needed. Contact us to learn more.

Do you have a cancellation policy for your therapy sessions?

Yes. Our cancellation policy is that we require at least 24 hours’ notice to cancel your therapy appointment. If you cancel your therapy appointment in less than 24 hours before your next session, you might be charged a fee.

Are your virtual therapy sessions confidential?

Yes, all of our sessions with the therapists at KLS Collective Group are confidential. We always adhere to strict privacy and confidentiality guidelines in compliance with HIPAA regulations.

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