Understanding the sequence
Slow down the chain from vulnerability and trigger to interpretation, emotion, impulse, action, and aftermath.
Therapy for intense emotions
More room between an intense emotion and what happens next.
Therapy can help you understand emotional patterns, strengthen practical skills, and make choices that remain available even when feelings become intense.
- Consultation
- The initial consultation is free and typically lasts 15 minutes. I will respond within 24 hours.
- Sessions
- In person in Atlanta, or telehealth for clients physically located in Georgia.
- Payment
- Private pay. Insurance is not accepted.
Alireza Ehteshami, Ph.D., Pre-Licensed Professional in Clinical Psychology, practicing under the supervision of Craig Kerley, Psy.D., Georgia license PSY002840.
Where therapy can begin
A feeling can be valid and urgent without needing to decide what you do next.
Intense emotions can narrow attention and make familiar responses feel inevitable. You might react quickly, withdraw, become overwhelmed, or struggle to communicate what you need until the moment has already escalated.
Emotion regulation therapy combines respect for the reality of your experience with an active focus on change. We can examine the sequence around difficult moments, build skills for staying present, and practice responses that better reflect your longer-term goals.
Your clinician
I earned my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Emory University and completed an APA-accredited predoctoral internship through Emory University School of Medicine’s Child, Adolescent & Young Adult Psychiatry program.
I am completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Perimeter Mood & Anxiety Program. I draw from evidence-based treatments including CBT, ACT, and DBT, selecting methods according to each person’s needs rather than applying a single formula.
Supervision
I am a Pre-Licensed Professional in Clinical Psychology. I provide clinical services under the supervision of Craig Kerley, Psy.D., a licensed psychologist in Georgia, license number PSY002840.
Where this work may focus
The aim is not emotional control or detachment. It is greater steadiness, clarity, and choice when emotions are asking a great deal of you.
Tolerating difficult moments
Develop ways to remain grounded during distress without making the situation harder or abandoning what matters.
Communicating effectively
Practice naming needs, setting limits, and staying engaged when fear, anger, or shame complicates a conversation.
How I work
Practical tools matter most when they are connected to the life in which you need them.
I draw on approaches developed for working with intense emotion—including Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), CBT, and ACT—within individual psychotherapy. Sessions may include skills practice, careful review of a recent situation, attention to recurring relationship patterns, and discussion of what made a skill easier or harder to use.
Validate what is real
We take your emotional experience seriously instead of treating intensity as a failure or character flaw.
Identify what can change
We look for specific points in a familiar sequence where awareness, a skill, or a different action could shift the outcome.
Practice without demanding perfection
New responses become more available through repetition, review, and curiosity about what happened—not self-punishment when a moment is difficult.
Common questions
If your question is not covered here, you are welcome to bring it to our initial conversation.
How does this relate to DBT?
Many of the most useful emotion-regulation skills have roots in Dialectical Behavior Therapy. This page describes individual therapy that draws on those tools flexibly. If you are specifically looking for structured individual DBT—with the full skills curriculum, diary cards, and chain analysis—I offer that as well; see the DBT therapy page or raise it during the consultation.
Are sessions entirely structured around worksheets or skills?
No. Skills may be part of the work, but sessions also make room for open conversation, emotional meaning, relationships, and the context in which patterns developed. Structure is used when it helps rather than as an end in itself.
What kinds of skills might we discuss?
Depending on your goals, the work may draw from mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. We select and adapt strategies according to the situations you are actually navigating.
Begin with a brief conversation
The initial consultation is free and typically lasts 15 minutes. I will respond within 24 hours. This form does not ask for clinical or medical information.
- Practice
- Perimeter Mood & Anxiety Program
- Telehealth
- For clients physically located in Georgia
You are welcome to share your name, preferred contact method, and general availability. To support HIPAA privacy safeguards, please do not include sensitive clinical or medical information in this form.
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