Starting a DBT Programme

DBT programmes provide multiple treatment modalities that address the key skills and motivational deficits presented by clients with a diagnosis of BPD. Thus, DBT Programmes provide skills training for clients, often in a group format; individual DBT psychotherapy, to help clients identify and solve problems in changing their behaviours; and treatment modalities to support generalisation of the new skills beyond the treatment environment, most commonly by telephone coaching. In addition, DBT Programmes enhance the skills of therapists on the team  and maintain their motivation to treat effectively by providing a mandatory weekly consultation team meeting where therapists receive supervision and consultation on their clinical work. Therefore each member of the programme will need to have dedicated time of at least 1 1/2 days a week to the DBT Programme.

Implementing DBT selecting, training and supervising a team Article by Michaela Swales

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Intensive Training

This training is intended for teams that are invested in learning DBT to a high standard in order to better implement the treatment in their settings. As DBT is a treatment that requires an ongoing consultation team, the Intensive Training is designed for treatment teams, not individual practitioners intending to practice alone.

A DBT team (minimum of 4, maximum of 10) is a group of mental health professionals who meet at least weekly to assist each other in applying DBT in their practice setting. Training is conducted in two five-day sessions of instruction divided by six to nine months of home study and requires a high level of dedication so we ask teams to discuss their level of commitment prior to applying.

At Part I DBT theory and strategies are taught in-depth. Between sessions, participants consolidate and apply what they have learned with the help of treatment practice assignments and a take-home exam.  Teams are expected to design and begin to implement their own DBT programmes or integrate DBT into an ongoing treatment setting. At Part II, each team presents their work and receives expert consultation on specific cases and on their programme, including protocols for specific treatment problems and adaptations of DBT.