Betty Bae is a licensed clinical social worker with nearly two decades of experience supporting individuals navigating complex emotional and behavioral challenges. She holds a Master of Science from Columbia University School of Social Work, where she began her intensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and a Bachelor’s degree from Colgate University. She is currently licensed to provide therapy in Maryland and Virginia, New Hampshire, and Florida.
Betty’s therapeutic style is grounded in a strong, trusting relationship with her clients. She offers a private, nonjudgmental, and validating space—combined with a results-driven, collaborative approach. She is fully committed to helping clients build meaningful lives and move toward lasting change.
Betty’s clinical focus has consistently centered on helping individuals who struggle with emotional and cognitive dysregulation, particularly in the context of invalidating or high-conflict environments. Her early career in Washington, D.C.’s foster care system laid the foundation for her nuanced understanding of dialectical perspectives and interpersonal complexity. She then spent seven years in the juvenile justice system, serving in roles ranging from between a Behavioral Health Specialist, to the Diagnostic coordinator, and a DBT-Informed Services Coordinator and Clinical Supervisor. In this capacity, she provided court-mandated evaluations and led treatment planning for detained youth, while also piloting projects that analyzed behavioral patterns to inform more effective interventions.
In addition to her work in juvenile justice, Betty has experience in hospital residential settings with adolescents who have experienced severe trauma and engaged in offending behaviors, as well as in private practice settings focused on domestic violence and child trauma. Since 2012, she has been deeply immersed in outpatient DBT work—first with Rathbone and Associates, and later with the DBT Center of Greater Washington, where she currently practices full time.
Betty has completed numerous intensive trainings in DBT, including specialized courses in adolescent DBT, DBT for PTSD (DBT-PE), DBT with families, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). She has received individual supervision from leaders in the field, including Dr. Melanie Harned and Dr. Alan Fruzetti. Her clinical work spans a broad age range, including adolescents, young adults, adults, and parents. She provides both individual DBT therapy and skills group training, and she has particular interest in working with individuals experiencing suicidal ideation, self-harming behaviors, Borderline Personality Disorder, anxiety disorders, and PTSD.
