Alicia Paz’s professional Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) journey began in 2010 when she received her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology. She uses her degree to help those struggling with mental health issues through social services in Portland, Oregon. In 2013, she created an online DBT course, the first of its kind to offer all modules for self-paced education and individual skills coaching. She has brought DBT coping skills to over 7,000 students in 119 countries through the program. In August 2020, Alicia expanded her DBT offerings by launching a community DBT platform that adds live group sessions to the courses and skills coaching.

Alicia has worked in prison, jail, outpatient, and community settings, but her passion lies in making DBT coping skills more accessible to the general public. The therapy program suffers from long wait-lists and insurance complications, which often make it difficult for patients to access. Alicia seeks to improve this situation through her public DBT skills courses. She also wrote a DBT workbook for children to help them cope with distress, with a publication date of Fall 2023.

When not pouring her heart and soul into her work or doing homework for her second Masters’s degree (this time in Public Health), Alicia enjoys spending time with her two kids and dog.