Portland Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program

My girlfriend of 7 years was undergoing DBT for Borderline Personality Disorder. The further into the program, the more she manifested comorbid Cluster B traits to the point where I had to sever ties with her for the safety of my daughter and myself. She had been showing signs of improvement through other therapy before entering the program.

Program is ok. Therapy staff is to involved in the billing portion. Scheduled appointments we didn’t agree to and then charge cancellation fees. Insisted on a credit card on file to charge us. We wanted to review the bill before paying it and they agreed not charge anything to it. When we disputed bill, they said they were going to bill the card on file. Therapist seemed untrained. I am so sick of people in the mental health industry taking advantage of families in crisis.

I am shocked to read the previous reviews. We have been with this group for over a year and have not even remotely had a similar experience. My kiddo is FINALLY getting the help she deserves. Her therapists have taught her life-​long, invaluable skills and have done it in a very respectful, caring way. The difference in her is unprecedented.
We did have a dreadful experience with a group having a similar name, The DBT Clinic. Steer clear of that place: questionable therapies, constant billing errors, charging for Monday appts that were cancelled the previous Thursday morning (24 hour cancellation policy is invalidated if the therapist doesn’t work on Fri, Sat or Sun — that is counted as less than 24hrs! Who does crap like that?), assessments that take MONTHS to get (am convinced they take so long because once you get them you’ll know something is wrong and find someone competent) and when you get them they are full of errors (common words, names, mis-​quotes from records. Ex: «Terrotes» for Tourettes…).
Let’s be clear there is a difference — STAY FAR, FAR AWAY from the DBT CLINIC of Portland. The DBT Institute is on the west side, on Macadam — it is PHENOMENAL and usually takes months to get into. The terrible, awful, no good, very, very bad place is on the east side, on Cesar Chavez and has immediate openings (most likely because clients wise up and leave).
And if the DBT Clinic is the place previous Unilocalers were referring to, that place should stop bilking people, and worse, ruining lives of people who deserve much better.

Still getting bills from this dishonest company for services they never provided. Look closer below at the 8 reviews that don’t show up that are not recommended. Funny how they don’t show up. Makes you wonder who actually gave the two 5star reviews. Probably employees, pretty common practice to try and boost overall rating.

Portland DBT takes advantage of people who are already facing hardships. There is definitely something illegal going on in their billing department, after many months of no longer being a DBT client I was still receiving bills of ridiculous charges. «Finance charges», a few cents here and there that no one ever tells you about, that then add up to 6 or 8 dollars by the time they bill you for it almost a year later. By the time they bill you, they’ve tacked on anywhere from $ 40 – 100 worth of late fees. And this is the first they will have communicated with you. If you schedule a follow up appointment at the front desk, it rarely makes it to the calendar of the provider. Then you are showing up when they don’t have time for you (even though you made an appointment). Or worse, not showing up when they randomly «squeeze you in» without your knowledge, and having to pay out of pocket for the appointment you didn’t attend or even ask for. Whatever therapy they do is immediately erased because of the stress you have to endure through dealing with the billing. If you think you have an idea of what it’s going to cost to go through their program, double it. You end up paying for their mistakes over and over again. The worst is that if you try to dispute a charge they simply threaten you with collections. Something illegal and unethical is going on there. Save yourself, and seek therapy elsewhere.

This place came with such high reviews from clinicians in the city that I did dbt in before moving to portland, that I went in hoping for great care. What I got was substandard work at a clinic that focuses more on the business aspect of mental health and not much on the patient.
The clinicians I saw here were judgmental, brusque, and didn’t know what they were doing. Having gone through dbt at a great clinic in another city, I was hoping this place would be as good, but it was terrible. I wasted a lot of time and money getting «treated» by people without PhDs (out of 15 or so counselors, only 3 have a phd or a PsyD). It s a very impersonal clinic and I never once felt like they cared about me or my struggles. I felt completely alone while shelling out tons of money. They also deviate significantly from Linehan’s manual (the woman who invented dbt) and they don’t really take your needs or desires seriously. The lack of training in how dbt should be done was appalling. The whole place was really devoid of soul and caring and it was really disappointing to be «treated» by people who viewed me as a paycheck and not a human.

As a borderline personality, I’ve improved more in nine months at Portland DBT than in five years of cognitive behavioral therapy. I would recommend this place to anyone, no matter what your diagnosis. My family and I have been consistently impressed with the individual therapists, group leaders, family counselors and nurse practitioners, and the kitchenette is adorable.

I think my mom probably put it best upon her arrival at the ER after a series of devastating traumas in our life, «You guys are like a fucking Woody Allen movie.» My husband and I have likely been through more in the first five years of our marriage than many couples go through in a lifetime.
One or even two of the traumas that were handed to us might have been manageable but three years of what felt like constant emotional, physical and mental pummeling took its toll. While I’ve previously seen mental health therapists of varying degrees, never have I experienced the quality of care provided by the staff at Portland DBT Clinic. I walked in their door unconvinced that anyone would be capable of putting me back together (not that I was ever really together in the first place) and came out the other side completely blown away by the experience. The experience is hard — weekly, if not several times a week, therapy sessions, difficult self-​reflection and discussion, homework, journaling and dedication. The reality is hard work pays off and nowhere will you find a mental health establishment that has built such a solid framework to help their clients.
Perhaps one day we’ll write a book on what we were dealt and how we managed to come out all right on the other end. If that book is ever written, Wendi Adams and Aniko Becsei at the Portland DBT Clinic will be highly commended for the incredible work they do, the life-​changing service they provide and their ability to completely change our lives to something we never believed could be possible. Until then, my hope is this review reaches many who are suffering and gives them the prodding they need to finally seek peace for themselves.