Eve Parker, ASW for Vista Hill Learning Assistance Center

DBT is a cognitive-behavioral therapy developed by Marsha Linehan at the University of Washington for patients with Borderline Personality Disorder DBT has been proven effective at treating a myriad of other disorders including eating disorders, treatment-resistant depression, ADHD, substance use disorders, and other mental health disorders DBT is used in inpatient and outpatient settings, correctional facilities, schools, etc

Dr Linehan recently revealed that she suffered from severe mental illness and was hospitalized as a young woman The first manuals were published in 1993 and updated in 2014 and worksheets/handouts are available online Trainings and certification are offered through Behavioral Tech/The Linehan Institute Dialectics: bringing two opposing ideas together to create a new idea

Traditional DBT includes individual psychotherapy group skills training team consultation allow the clients to call in 24/7 for support DBT skills training groups and teaching skills on an individual basis is less rigorous and an effective intervention

Group usually is 2.5 hours long, often starts with a mindfulness activity, reviews homework from previous session, and teaches a new skill from a rotation of the 4 modules Individual sessions often focus on reviewing the client's diary card and/or completing a BCA on an event from the previous week Treatment usually lasts at least 1 year

Core Mindfulness Interpersonal Effectiveness Emotion Regulation Distress Tolerance

Skills for learning to pay attention to what you're doing and how you're feeling You can't change ineffective behavior and feelings if you aren't aware of what you're feeling or doing

Skills for learning to effectively interact with others get what one needs say no deal with conflict, stress, and loneliness

Skills for coping with difficult emotions, mood- dependent behavior, and reducing emotional vulnerability

Crisis survival skills for temporarily distracting and escaping the "crisis" situation Reality acceptance skills for non-judgmentally accepting reality for what it is and finding meaning in suffering New skills added for addiction issues

Behavior Chain Analysis helps client and therapist take an in depth look at the ineffective behavior from a given situation Diary Card helps client keep track of their goals and how often they're using their skills