About Me

I am a DBT therapist specializing in BPD, C-PTSD, depression, anxiety and other versions of emotion dysregulation. I use primarily DBT to help people understand their emotions better in order to feel more in control of their lives. Learning our emotions more clearly can help us come to a better sense of who we are and why. Using these skills, I help my clients gain clarity, reduce suffering and envision the lives they want to have and who they want to be.

As an Asian-American (former) patent litigator and software engineer, I have personally experienced the stress of trying to reach for success while navigating several layers of cultural expectations and opposing realities. My goal is to help my clients be the best version of themselves through this learning and healing process.

Karen Yeh, J.D., M.A., LMFT
License # LMFT121420

Services

For Clients

DBT Skills Training Group

DBT Skills Group is one component of Dialectical Behavioral Therapy.  This group meets once per week and the co-facilitators teach several new skills each week based on the DBT curriculum.  In this group, participants learn Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance and Interpersonal Effectiveness.  This group is not a substitute for individual therapy but can supplement your therapy by teaching different ways of interacting with the world to improve your relationships and sense of self-worth.

For Clinicians

Supervision

I offer supervision for ambitious associates who want to grow a thriving independent practice. I ran a successful solo private practice full model DBT program for 8 years and participated in multiple DBT consultation teams over the years. My style is directive with a relational approach and a heavy emphasis on social justice.

Consultation

Personality disorders, C-PTSD and DBT

I ran a full model DBT program for 8 years specializing in complex PTSD, borderline personality disorder and narcissistic personality disorders. I offer consultation for therapists who want to learn about DBT to decide whether to invest in intensive trainings or to learn enough DBT to integrate DBT-informed therapy into their practice. I also offer consultation on how to work with personality disorders including how to differentiate between BPD and NPD and how the treatments differ. 

Populations: children of immigrants

Although the BIPOC community has recently been grouped together for the purpose political power, children of immigrants experience a unique upbringing that not only can result in C-PTSD but also has continued impact on their adult relationships with family that ripples out to other relationships. I offer consultation for psychoeducation on this population as well as treatment approaches and techniques that I have developed to reduce the probability of family estrangement which has become increasingly more popular. 

BDSM and kink

I offer psychoeducation on BDSM and kink, including information about the lifestyle from a nonjudgmental and sex therapy lens.

For Somatic Coaching

In my therapy practice, I chose DBT because I value directive and efficient progress. I worked with my clients to determine what changes they wanted to make and then taught them skills to enact them. Learning the skills, however, takes real-life practice.   

It is common to not really believe you’re capable of change or that the therapy is working until you have the somatic experience of a different outcome. For example, I truly did not believe I was capable of change even after years of therapy until the first time I successfully practiced Opposite Action to Anger and my body didn’t collapse. My progress was stalled until that moment and momentum flowed right after. 

Unfortunately, it can take a long time to stumble across an opportunity to practice a new skill, assuming you even recognize that opportunity in time to pull it out. And even then, since practice makes perfect, you may not get the outcome you’re looking for until you’ve had the opportunity to practice many repetitions. 

Because of that, this process can take a long time before seeing any results which can be demoralizing and frustrating.

In my somatic coaching practice, I use elements of drama therapy, sex therapy and BDSM to create scenarios customized to your therapy goals to give you opportunities to practice your skills and experience change somatically, thereby kickstarting your real-life practice to fully integrate your therapy goals. 

Education

The Wright Institute, Berkeley, CA
M.A., Counseling Psychology

Golden Gate University, San Francisco, CA
Industrial Organizational Psychology Certification