Therapy at White Cedar

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DBT-informed treatment for teens and adults

Anybody can benefit from learning DBT skills, even when treatment needs are less acute. DBT skills help clients manage their emotions, take alternate perspectives, challenge rigid thinking styles, communicate clearly and effectively, and work toward their goals. DBT-informed individual therapy is appropriate for those who do not have safety concerns, but whose treatment goals target these aspects of behavior and emotion.

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DBT skills training for individuals and families

Participation in comprehensive DBT includes attending groups to learn a skills curriculum. For clients whose personal circumstances limit their ability to participate in group therapy due to frequent travel, scheduling issues, alternative learning styles, attention deficit disorder, or difficulty finding an age-appropriate group, Dr. Davino  offers individual skills training sessions on a case-by-case basis.

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Parenting consultation for parents of young adults

Dr. Davino has years of experience coaching parents of young adults. Parenting consultations focus on improving communication styles, building the skills to take alternate perspectives, and emotional regulation for parents, all of which contribute to a home in which clients and their children can more effectively advocate for themselves and support each other.

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Couples therapy

Dr. Davino’s clinical work with couples is based on Dr. Alan Fruzzetti’s research into the application of DBT treatment philosophies in managing relationships. This treatment especially focuses the transactional nature of emotional regulation between persons in a relationship. Clients will first learn skills for accurately expressing themselves and eliciting accurate expression from others.  Building on these skills, clients will learn how to advocate for their relationship needs through negotiation with their partner, rather than through conflict. 

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CBT treatment protocols for patients aged 10 and up

Cognitive behavioral therapy, or CBT, is a family of therapy protocols that helps clients build healthy habits both in their thoughts (cognitions) and their actions (behaviors). Examples of evidence-based CBT protocols include behavioral activation for depression, and a curriculum of psychoeducation, behavioral experiments, and cognitive restructuring for anxiety disorders. CBT has proven especially effective for treating anxiety and worry. 

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Evidence-based trauma treatment for teens and adults

Persons with post-traumatic stress disorder can have symptoms that severely affect their quality of life.  Depending on the nature, timeline, and severity of the traumatic experiences, Dr. Davino may recommend Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) or Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), an exposure protocol for trauma developed by Dr. Edna Foa at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Davino became certified in PE through Emory University. She also has been trained in DBT-PE, an integration of PE with the DBT protocol that addresses the needs of patients who struggle with both mood dependent behaviors and PTSD symptoms.

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Exposure and Response Prevention for ages 10 and up

Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) is a CBT-based protocol for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). With ERP, Dr. Davino helps clients identify obsessions that cause distress and rank them according to the level of distress to create an exposure hierarchy. Patients systematically work their way up their hierarchy to tolerate the anxiety in a controlled, safe, and systematic manner without resorting to compulsions, avoidance, or safety behaviors.  ERP has proven extremely effective at treating OCD, with most patients achieving a reduction in symptoms and higher quality of life.

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SPACE for parents of anxious children

When children begin experiencing symptoms of anxiety disorders or OCD, it can be difficult for parents to find resources on how to care for them and support their treatment. Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions (SPACE) is an empirically validated educational behavioral protocol for parents of anxious children developed by Dr. Eli Lebowitz at the Yale Child Study Center. Dr. Davino uses SPACE to teach parents how to support their anxious child or adolescent’s treatment plan by increasing  parents' validation and expressed confidence in their child, and by gradually decreasing any accommodation of safety behaviors.

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SPACE-FTL for parents of anxious young adults

Transitioning to adulthood can be especially difficult for young people struggling with anxiety disorders. SPACE-FTL is an adaptation of the SPACE protocol that helps parents design behavior plans for their young adults, which can help provide a scaffold for them to become more independent. Using SPACE-FTL, Dr. Davino can help parents identify both problematic and target behaviors in their young adult, as well as their young adult’s goals for the future, and design a structure of incentives to guide the development of their child’s habits and behaviors as they transition to a life of greater independence and responsibility.

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Specialized treatments for emetephobia, other phobias, and panic disorder for teens and adults

                Dr. Davino treats phobias by teaching clients to challenge erroneous cognitions, and provides a supportive and educational space to encourage clients to systematically face their fears. To treat panic disorder, Dr. Davino uses psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, and interoceptive exposure exercises such as breathing into a paper bag to simulate body sensations often experienced during a panic attack. Patients gradually engage in more and more difficult behavioral challenges and learn to tolerate physiological distress.