We are experienced and enthusiastic skills practitioners ourselves.
Our group is queer and trans affirming and we strive to offer culturally responsive skills training.
Marielle Berg, MFT
I started this group for therapists because I saw a gap in training around DBT skills. Many therapists are interested in learning the skills but do not necessarily want to study the full DBT model. Additionally, many of us are drawn to this profession because we are deeply feeling humans who need support around our own emotional wellbeing. Learning how to use the skills in your own life will help you have an embodied understanding of their efficacy.
The DBT skills are not just applicable to those struggling with severe emotional dysregulation but are practical, life-changing skills that can benefit new and seasoned therapists.
I have completed advanced training in DBT, RO-DBT, Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Hakomi, and Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Social justice values deeply inform my work. I provide adherent DBT and work with individuals and couples in my psychotherapy practice at the Bay Area DBT & Couples Counseling Center.
Edwin L. Fowler, LCSW
I help people overcome, manage and find meaning in life’s challenges. Rather than trying to “get over” hard emotional experiences, I guide people to “move through” these experiences to gain more understanding, self-compassion and choice about creating a life worth living.
Before getting my MSW from CUNY-Hunter College, I worked in multiple non-profit settings including as executive director of a community center in Brooklyn, New York. My thirty years of work experience has been centered on supporting a wide range of people in every stage of life, from many racial and ethnic backgrounds and varied income and education levels. I value social justice and know that personal healing often sparks collective healing.
I have been intensively trained in DBT as well as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and I use both of these approaches to help people create a full life no matter what struggles they encounter. I work with individuals throughout the state of California virtually in my psychotherapy practice and co-lead a skills group at the Bay Area DBT & Couples Counseling Center.