Our team

Dr. Marah Knightner (Friedman)

Younger adolescents through adults · Telehealth in Florida & participating PSYPACT jurisdictions · English

Dr. Marah Knightner (Friedman) leads both of Haven’s DBT skills groups — the adult group and the teen group — and sees younger adolescents through adults for individual therapy by telehealth. Her work centers on emotions that are hard to control, the behaviors that follow from them, and the relationships that strain under both.

How she works

Dr. Knightner works from cognitive behavioral therapy and comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Her DBT training is unusually specific: fifty hours with a DBT-Linehan Board Certified clinician, sixteen hours devoted to running skills groups, and weekly participation in a consultation team that keeps the work adherent to the model.

Sessions are structured and collaborative. Together you build a plan targeting the particular behaviors and thoughts getting in the way of a life worth living, and she balances validation with clear, practical expectations. Her aim is that you leave each session better equipped for the week ahead than when you arrived.

Both skills groups are semi-open, with new members joining roughly every six weeks as space allows, and both cover the four DBT modules: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

Who she works best with

• Adolescents and adults who struggle to regulate intense emotions, whether or not a diagnosis has ever been attached to it
• People with borderline personality features, or a history of self-harm and suicidal thoughts
• Teens whose behavior at home or school has become what everyone is worried about
• People who have understood their patterns for a while without being able to change them
• Anyone who wants a DBT skills group, either alongside individual therapy or on its own

A few fit notes

All of Dr. Knightner’s work is by telehealth, and she sees younger adolescents through adults. The skills groups meet at fixed weekly times, so joining one means that slot has to work for you.

If you are not sure whether she is the right fit, that is what the free 15-minute consultation is for. It can help sort out whether Dr. Knightner, another Haven clinician, or a resource outside the practice would serve you best.

Background and training

Dr. Knightner earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Nova Southeastern University in 2023, after a bachelor’s in Psychology and Criminal Justice from Towson University. Before joining Haven she provided assessment and therapeutic intervention to youth and families across community mental health, forensic, and private practice settings.

Specialties

Practical details

Credentials: Licensed Psychologist · TX 40131
Format: Telehealth
Session rate: $150 per 45 minutes, $175 per 60 minutes, $225 intake.
Insurance: Out-of-network with all plans. We can provide documentation to support possible reimbursement through out-of-network benefits; reimbursement varies by plan.

PSYPACT authorized. Dr. Marah Knightner (Friedman) holds an Authority to Practice Interjurisdictional Telepsychology (APIT) through the PSYPACT Commission, which permits telepsychology with clients located in participating PSYPACT jurisdictions. The PSYPACT map shows which jurisdictions take part, and the check below answers it for yours.