An Introduction to Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Adolescents and Young Adults

On Monday, October 20, 2025, Dr. Esme Shaller of UCSF will present a basic overview of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a type of talk therapy for people who experience intense emotions. DBT is an empirically supported treatment for suicidal behavior, self-harm, and emotional dysregulation. She will discuss considerations for referral and ways to find care for the young person in your life who struggles with strong emotions. “This webinar is made possible by the support of Three Valleys Foundation and individual donors”, said Alan Hu Foundation’s Co-Founder and President, Xiaofang Chen. Simultaneous interpretation in Chinese and Spanish will be available during the live webinar.

Esme A. L. Shaller, PhD, is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), which she joined in 2007. At UCSF, she helped build the Wavefront Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Clinic, for which she serves as Clinical Director. Both Dr. Shaller and the Wavefront DBT Clinic are certified by the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification. She is a past president of the International Society for the Improvement and Teaching of DBT. She recently published her first book, Therapy-Interfering Behavior in DBT.

Dr. Shaller’s central passions are teaching and the dissemination of DBT, particularly for adolescents and families. She devotes most of her time to teaching and training, both within UCSF’s residency and fellowship programs, and across California and the United States. She has worked with other members of the Wavefront team to implement comprehensive DBT for low-income teens in three Bay Area counties. Dr. Shaller received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology with highest honors from UC Berkeley, and her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York, Stony Brook.

The free webinar will be held on Monday, October 20, 2025, from 6:30 - 7:30 pm PT via Zoom. It will include 15 minutes for questions and answers following Dr. Shaller’s presentation. Please RSVP by October 19, 2025, at: https://alanhufoundation.org/ to receive the Zoom meeting link. Participants may join beginning at 6:15 pm. The Mental Health Association for Chinese Communities at https://www.mhacc-usa.org will provide simultaneous Chinese interpretation. Simultaneous Spanish interpretation will also be available.

The Alan Hu Foundation was created by Xiaofang Chen and Chih-Ching Hu in memory of their son, Alan. He passed away due to mental disorders in 2018 at the age of 15. Their mission is to promote mental health, raise awareness and remove stigma surrounding psychiatric disorders, and to support fundamental research for cures.

For further information and to support the Alan Hu Foundation, please visit the website: https://alanhufoundation.org