Couples DBT

About

Couples DBT is written by a clinician.

Couples DBT is authored and edited by Tanner Oliver, LCSW — a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been practicing dialectical behavior therapy with couples and high-conflict relational systems for over a decade.

The work

Couples DBT exists because the canonical adaptation of DBT to couples — Alan Fruzzetti's The High-Conflict Couple (2006) — sits at the boundary between two literatures: DBT proper (Linehan, BPD, individual skills training) and couples therapy (Gottman, EFT, IFS). Most published material lives on one side or the other. The work this site is doing is to write down what the synthesis actually looks like in clinical practice, with the rigor of a working therapist who has run the protocol with real couples.

The writing here is for two audiences: educated couples in distress who want something more rigorous than the Substack version of relationship advice, and clinicians researching how DBT skills behave when applied as a pair. Posts are clinician-voiced, not Substack-listicle-voiced. The body is what a careful therapist would say in supervision, written down.

Credentials

  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) — Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA)
  • Master of Social Work (MSW)
  • DBT-trained, with continuing education in Couples DBT (Fruzzetti) and standard DBT (Linehan)

Where else I work

Couples DBT is one of several projects I run, all of which sit alongside each other rather than competing. Same person; different audiences.

  • Front Range Treatment Center — my Denver outpatient practice, where I deliver DBT, CBT, and natural-medicine-assisted services. If you're looking for couples DBT therapy in Denver, the actual clinical work happens there.
  • Peak Psychedelic Wellness — my facilitator brand for natural-medicine services under Colorado's Natural Medicine Health Act, currently delivered through FRTC.
  • Denver Catholic Counseling — counseling rooted in Catholic teaching for individuals, couples, and families.
  • Theracharts — clinical intelligence software for therapists, built so I and my colleagues could practice measurement-based care without the friction of EHR-bundled assessments. Used in my own clinical work daily.

Get in touch

Questions about whether Couples DBT is the right fit for you, your relationship, or your practice? Send a message — replies within one business day.