Our name says it all. ServiceNet is a network of innovative mental health and human services for individuals and families throughout Western Massachusetts and Worcester County.
We Care About People
Grounded in research and fueled by creativity, we meet people where they are, and then provide the highest quality services to address their needs.
ServiceNet works with people who are living with mental illness, developmental disability or autism, brain injury, substance use or addiction issues, or the hardship of homelessness.
Today, ServiceNet has grown to include more than 100 different programs and services:
- Counseling and psychiatry services for individuals and families
- An early intervention program for children from birth through age 3 who have various risk factors or developmental delays
- An intensive program for young adults coping with serious mental health issues
- Comprehensive therapeutic and residential support for adults living with long-term mental illness
- Sober living options for people in recovery from addiction
- Residential and outreach services for individuals with developmental disability or autism
- Residential, rehabilitation, and day programs for people with brain injury
Individuals and/or their families may self-refer to the DBT program.
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- Adult DBT is available at our Behavioral Health Centers in Northampton and Greenfield.
- Adolescent DBT is offered in Northampton.
Four Components of DBT
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Mindfullness
the practice of being fully aware and present in the moment.
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Distress Tolerance
How to tolerate pain in difficult situations, and to move through it instead of avoiding it.
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Interpersonal Effectiveness
how to ask for what you want and how to say “no” to maintain your self-respect and your relationships with others.
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Emotion Regulation
how to change emotions that you want to change.
We are Always Reaching
Risky behaviors evolve as ways to attempt to solve a problem. Though at first these behaviors might provide some temporary relief, they are not usually effective in the long run.
DBT begins with the belief that clients are doing the best they can – and that they will benefit by learning new behavioral skills to help them cope in a variety of situations.
The four skills taught in DBT are:
- Mindfulness: the practice of being fully aware and present in the moment.
- Distress Tolerance: how to tolerate pain in difficult situations, and to move through it instead of avoiding it.
- Interpersonal Effectiveness: how to ask for what you want and how to say “no” to maintain your self-respect and your relationships with others.
- Emotion Regulation: how to change emotions that you want to change.
Skills training is usually taught in weekly group sessions, and the full skills curriculum runs for 24 weeks. The group leader assigns homework so that clients may practice the skills in their everyday lives.
ServiceNet also offers DBT-based Wise Mind Groups for people with less severe symptoms (see our Group Therapy section for more information).
“In adolescent DBT, we start by building skills in distress tolerance because we want to first and foremost ensure their safety and stability, helping them tolerate what they feel long enough to use a skill and eventually learn how to self-regulate.”
−Bonnie Atkins, Coordinator of ServiceNet’s adolescent DBT program.
