Jordan Kugler is a licensed clinical psychologist at UCEBT who specializes in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Prolonged Exposure (PE), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Processing Therapy for PTSD (PTSD) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). He received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in World Religions from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln; a Masters of Science in Psychology and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Clinical and Counseling Psychology from Utah State University.
Jordan completed an APA accredited internship at the Salt Lake City VA healthcare system. During graduate school, Jordan was involved in several different areas of research. He studied the effects of social support, PTSD and suicidal behavior among military veterans, as well as couple-based interventions for PTSD in military veterans. His dissertation examined psychosocial and genetic risk factors for depression and their subsequent risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Currently, Jordan is interested in suicidal behavior and clinical outcomes research for DBT and trauma-focused interventions.
Jordan has experience in several settings, including VA outpatient clinics, community mental health settings, student counseling centers and trauma-informed outpatient clinics. He has research and clinical interests in suicidal behavior and post-trauma reactions. Jordan’s therapeutic style is upbeat, collaborative and emphasizes identifying, developing and actualizing his client’s values.
Jordan is currently taking referrals for adolescents (14 and up) as well as adults and couples/parents. Jordan is also available for professional consultation and trainings.
Jordan’s Recent Presentations
Building a Life Worth Living: Components of Dialectical Behavior Therapy -- Building a life worth living: Presentation focused on reviewing the essential components of DBT and how these components work together to help a person transition from extreme emotional pain to having built a life that is meaningful and worth living to them. This presentation also discussed adaptations of standard DBT for clients with addictive behavior problems. Contact us to request this presentation for your organization.
Inclusivity in Consultation Teams: A Skills Based Approach to Increasing Inclusivity -- This presentation was developed to increase inclusiveness among inter-professional teams with imbalanced power dynamics. The presentation draws from DBT skills and Theories of leadership to suggest structural skills and awareness of process-level interactions that impact inclusive environments on teams. Contact us to request this presentation for your organization.
Recommended Resources
Books
Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life by Stephen Hayes.
Get ready to take a different perspective on your problems in your life and the way you want to live it. Acceptance and commitment therapy is a new scientifically based psychotherapy that takes a fresh look at why we suffer and even what it means to be mentally healthy. What if pain were a normal, unavoidable part of the human condition, but avoiding or trying to control painful experiences or the cause of suffering and long-term problem that can devastate your quality of life? The act process hinges on this distinction between pain and suffering. As you work through this book you will learn to let go of your struggle against pain, assess your values, and then it commit to acting in ways that further those values.
Act is not about fighting your pain; it’s about developing a willingness to embrace every experience life has to offer. It’s not about resisting your emotions; it’s about feeling them completely and yet not turning your choices over to them. ACT offers you a path out of suffering by helping you choose to live your life based on what matters to you most.
High Conflict Couple by Alan Fruzzetti.
The High-Conflict Couple adapts the powerful techniques of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) into skills you can use to tame out-of-control emotions that flare up in your relationship. Using mindfulness and distress tolerance techniques, you’ll learn how to deescalate angry situations before they have a chance to explode into destructive fights. Other approaches will help you disclose your fears, longings, and other vulnerabilities to your partner and validate his or her experiences in return. You’ll discover ways to manage problems with negotiation, not conflict, and to find true acceptance and closeness with the person you love the most.
The Mindful Way Through Depression by Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal and Jon Kabat-Zinn.
If you’ve ever struggled with depression, take heart. Mindfulness, a simple yet powerful way of paying attention to your most difficult emotions and life experiences, can help you break the cycle of chronic unhappiness once and for all. In The Mindful Way through Depression, four uniquely qualified experts explain why our usual attempts to “think” our way out of a bad mood or just “snap out of it” lead us deeper into the downward spiral. Through insightful lessons drawn from both Eastern meditative traditions and cognitive therapy, they demonstrate how to sidestep the mental habits that lead to despair, including rumination and self-blame, so you can face life’s challenges with greater resilience. Jon Kabat-Zinn gently and encouragingly narrates the accompanying CD of guided meditations, making this a complete package for anyone seeking to regain a sense of hope and well-being.
TedTalks
Understanding PTSD’s Effects on the Brain, Body and Emotions, Dr. Janet Seahorn
Websites
DBT resources for clients and families: Behavioral Tech (Linehan Institute Training Company)
Apps
DBT Travel Guide: Free companion app for those participating in DBT. Includes an easily fillable diary card, audio files for skills, and information about DBT. (Apple) (Google)
Mood Tracker: Mood tracker was developed to help you track your emotional experience over time and to provide you with a tool to share this information with your health care provider. The app provides you with a quick and easy way of regularly tracking your moods and behavior.
Breathe2Relax: This app helps teach and facilitate diaphragmatic breathing, which has widely known benefits in the reduction of stress, tension and anxiety to calm the body’s fight of flight response. (Apple) (Google)
