Help for Impulsive
Behaviors & Urges That Feel Out of Control
Learn to pause, tolerate overwhelming urges, and make safer choices using DBT skills. These patterns are often described as Impulsive or Behavioral Dysregulation. We provide in-person DBT Therapy to children, teens and adults across Long Island and New York City with Telehealth across New York State.
Sometimes your actions move faster than your thinking. You might say things you regret, make quick decisions to escape a feeling, or find yourself acting before you even realize what’s happening.
It’s not that you don’t care — your nervous system is trying to get relief fast. Dialectical Behavior Therapy helps you slow these moments down, ride out urges, and choose responses that move your life in the direction you want.
We provide in-person DBT therapy care across Long Island and New York City and offer Telehealth throughout New York State, making support accessible wherever you are.
What These Moments Can Look Like
Impulsive or out-of-control reactions can show up in many ways, including:
These reactions aren’t about a lack of willpower. They’re often signs of how dysregulation works, when the nervous system becomes overwhelmed and seeks fast relief.
With the right skills, you can learn how to slow these moments down and respond in ways that feel steadier and more in control.
Conditions Often Linked to Impulsive or Intense Reactions
DBT can be helpful even if you don’t have a formal diagnosis the skills focus on the emotional patterns and reactions themselves.
How DBT Helps You Gain Control
Mindfulness helps you pause, notice what’s happening inside, and create space between urges and actions. Over time, with practice, you develop the ability to notice thoughts and urges as they arise — instead of being automatically driven by them. This growing awareness gives you more choice in how you respond, rather than reacting on impulse.
These skills help you survive intense urges without making things worse. You learn ways to calm your body, ground yourself, and safely ride things out during overwhelming moments.
Distress tolerance isn’t about making pain disappear right away, it’s about getting through a crisis safely until you’re able to problem-solve. And you don’t have to do it alone , your therapist is there to help you use these tools when you need them most through Phone coaching..
When emotions run high, it’s easy to say things you don’t mean, shut down, or damage relationships. DBT teaches you clear, step-by-step scripts for:
– Asking for what you need
– Saying no
– Expressing feelings without attacking
– Setting limits in the relationship
– Repairing relationships after conflict
These tools help reduce emotional vulnerability over time so reactions feel less explosive and more manageable. You learn to recognize and understand different urges related to behaviors , decide whether acting on them will be effective, and choose what to do next. When helpful, you practice problem-solving or using opposite action to shift emotional patterns in healthier ways.
Our Full DBT Program Includes
DBT is a comprehensive program designed to support change both inside and outside of therapy sessions.
The diary card helps you become more aware of your emotions, urges, and behaviors, especially the patterns that may be getting in the way of the life you want.
DBT Skills Group at Suffolk DBT is more like a class than traditional group therapy. We begin with a brief mindfulness practice to help everyone slow down and focus.
Then we review homework , how you practiced your skills during the week and introduce new tools to help you manage behaviors, relationships, and stressful situations.The focus isn’t on rehashing problems it’s on building solutions and learning practical ways to handle challenges more effectively.
Emotional moments don’t wait for your next session. Phone coaching gives you brief support to help you use your DBT skills in real time, when urges to engage in behaviors are high and it’s hardest to think clearly.
The goal isn’t to provide therapy over the phone, but to help you practice responding in skillful ways so you can handle challenges with more confidence and control.
Our therapists are supported by a DBT consultation team to provide high-quality, structured care “You are not expected to figure this out alone”
DBT Programs for Children, Teens, College Students and Adults
DBT skills can make a meaningful difference at any age. Because behavioral challenges show up differently across development, our programs are tailored to support children, teens, young adults, and adults in ways that fit their stage of life.
Younger children often show impulsive behaviors through big behavioral outbursts, difficulty calming down, or challenges following directions when overwhelmed. DBT-C involves both the child and caregivers, teaching effective skills while helping parents respond in supportive, effective ways.
Adolescence can bring intense urges, impulsive reactions, and conflicts that feel overwhelming for both teens and families.
DBT-A combines individual therapy with a multifamily skills group where teens and caregivers learn tools together to improve communication, reduce conflict, and navigate difficult moments with greater understanding and support.
This stage of life often brings more freedom, less structure, and significant pressure. When stress builds and urges are strong, decisions can happen quickly sometimes before you fully register is happening. It can feel like being on autopilot, reacting in the moment without time to slow down and think things through.
At this stage, behavioral dysregulation might show up as skipping classes, dropping courses, using substances to cope, making sudden relationship decisions, or acting on strong urges without considering the consequences. DBT helps young adults pause, understand what is driving their reactions, and choose behaviors that support their goals, stability, and long-term well-being.
Adults who struggle with impulsive reactions are often navigating moments that feel fast, intense, and hard to slow down. When the nervous system is overwhelmed, it can be difficult to pause, think clearly, or choose responses that reflect your values. This may show up as saying things you later regret, making quick decisions under stress, reacting strongly in relationships, or acting in ways that create problems at work or at home.
DBT helps adults slow these moments down, recognize urges before acting on them, and build skills to respond more intentionally. Over time, this leads to steadier behavior, clearer communication, and choices that feel more aligned with the life and relationships you want.
What starts to change?
With Time and Practice, many people in DBT notice:
Change doesn’t happen overnight. But it does happen
You’re Not “Too Much.” Your Nervous System Needs Skills.
If you often feel like your impulses take over before you can pause, DBT can help you slow those moments down, tolerate urges, and build safer, more effective ways to cope.
You don’t have to keep living in reaction mode.
Where We Offer DBT Therapy
In-Person DBT Therapy
We provide Dialectical Behavior Therapy at our offices in Mount Sinai, Babylon, Roslyn Heights, and New York City.
Online DBT Therapy
Secure telehealth DBT available across New York, including Upstate.
GET STARTED TODAY
Ready to Get Started and speak with an Intake Specialist?
Suffolk DBT provides comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), an evidence-based treatment that helps people manage intense emotions and reduce impulsive or reactive behaviors that can feel difficult to control. We offer care in our Long Island and New York City offices, as well as through telehealth across New York State.
Our experienced therapists work with children, teens, college students, and adults who experience emotional overwhelm, relationship conflict, self-harm urges, mood instability, and other challenges related to dysregulation. DBT helps you slow reactions, tolerate urges, make more intentional choices, and respond to life’s stressors in ways that support your long-term well-being.
All of our clinicians participate in a DBT consultation team and provide skills coaching between sessions, so you receive support not only in therapy, but in the real-life moments when you need the skills most.
Completely confidential. Only takes 10-15 minutes.
