Here at British Isles DBT Training, we have an incredible team that work together seamlessly to ensure you receive the best of the best. We thought it may be a great opportunity to introduce you to them in a little series over the coming months. So, let’s start with our phenomenal team of experts in the field and MEET THE TRAINERS!
For the first introduction of Meet The Trainers, we are speaking with Director of Training at DBT, Michaela Swales. Let’s dive into some questions and learn more about her experience in the realm of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy.
What is the best thing about being part of the British Isles DBT team?
There are many things that are really excellent about it, but what I really appreciate is working together with a creative and energetic group of people who are totally committed to this treatment and getting the best service for clients. Even 30 years after Marsha Linehan designed this treatment, people with the problems DBT is designed to help are marginalised, problems are misunderstood, they are often excluded from services or receive poor services. It’s really important to me and the team, to change the way people see the issues and to support practitioners to help their clients become more effective in their clinical work.
Why did you choose to become a trainer?
I don’t really recall making an active choice. I was very fortunate to be one of the first team of people to train in DBT in the UK and also get a grant to bring Heidi Heard, a graduate student of Marsha Linehan’s who worked on the initial treatment trial to the UK. My line manager, who paid for the training, said that essentially I must do some training on what I had learnt to repay the investment! Becoming a trainer came as a result of going on the training. When came to work in the UK she would often be asked to do training and I went with her. It was more something that happened to me rather than something that I chose to do. I do remember very clearly the very first DBT Intensive training at a hotel in Harrogate. We had Charlie Swenson, Heidi Heard and Kelly Koerner all experienced US trainers. Heidi was very keen for me to learn and develop my craft as a trainer and I had to teach a session on Behavioural Chain Analysis in front of these 3 incredible trainers. I have to say, it was one of the most nerve racking times of my life. I remember it vividly and can still picture it in my mind, even down to what I was wearing!
What do you enjoy most about training with biDBT?
I enjoy working and training with my colleagues. Despite the amount of intensives and workshops I have done, I always learn something new from them every time, and I really value this aspect of my work. They are a very creative and committed group of people and are always learning and developing themselves too. Training experienced mental health professionals is also a great privilege and pleasure. I get the biggest buzz from providing creative, practical and engaging training to our delegates. I feel passionately about ensuring that when dedicated and hardworking staff give their time, which is very limited in the NHS, they receive a fulfilling training experience.
What advice would you give to new DBT therapists?
Well, where to start, there are many things! It may depend on what day of the week you ask me this! I think to really lean in to the assumptions in DBT that the people who come to us for help are doing the best they can, and it’s our job to help them to do the extra things that they need to learn to do in order to overcome their problems. If you can stay in that space of compassion for your client that will really help you. I would also say, do not be afraid to make a mistake and to say you have made the mistake. You will learn faster. Really embrace the fallibility agreement, lean on your team, be willing to learn and be open to feedback. Being open to feedback is not so easy in a busy mental health service but if you can really embrace this and create an atmosphere of trust in your DBT Consultation Team it will transform your practice.
What is your favourite course to deliver and why?
Being incredibly mindful, whatever course I’m teaching is my favourite 😊! Each course has a distinct flavour. If you are teaching Skills, you are often introducing people to DBT for the first time and to see them embrace the different ways that we can understand and regulate emotions or help clients and staff think dialectically for the first time is always very exciting. But then if you are teaching an Intensive, to see new teams developing new services, that always gives me a buzz. Our post-Intensive advanced classes are a real pleasure, seeing how clinicians and services have developed and encouraging them in their next steps. Each training requires a different contribution from trainers as delegates are all in different phases of their learning journey.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
Walking my dog, Otto. I like singing in a classical choir, embroidery and I love binge watching crime dramas! I love Strictly and prefer Dancing on Ice – slightly more jeopardy!
What is a fun fact about yourself?
Hmm, I do like to have a go at singing operatic arias! Is that a fun fact – I’m not sure 😊
Who would you most like to swap places with for the day?
Ooh, I really love my job and everything I do so have never really thought about that before.
What has been your biggest achievement?
In the world of DBT, there are 2 things I think of when you ask me that question. Neither of them would have been possible without the training that I have done and the people I have connected with. I am most proud of editing the Oxford Handbook of DBT. It really did involve bringing together anyone and everyone that had done research or made training developments or adaptations in DBT. It was so much fun connecting and working with them all and required extensive use of DEAR MAN GIVE to ensure compliance with deadlines 😊. I was astonished at the size of it when it arrived. It has literally been my biggest achievement in the sense that the book could be used as a doorstop! The second was gaining 2 awards from the International Society for the Improvement and Teaching of DBT (ISITDBT). The first was in 2009 – the Cindy Sanderson outstanding educator award, which was a joint award with Heidi Heard – which I’m so very proud of because it recognised the work we had done to bring DBT to the UK. Last year I received the Outstanding Researcher award. This was a major achievement for me and greatly appreciated. Fifteen or so years ago someone whose opinion I greatly valued said to me that I needed to choose to be an expert trainer / therapist or researcher: that I could never do both. I chose to become an expert trainer with some sadness that research would not really be my future. Unexpectedly, the decision to give up research and focus on training was what led to research opportunities developing, in particular my interest investigating real-world implementation. So receiving the ISITDBT award recognising my research was particularly special as it is the one award I had never expected or hoped to receive.
If you’d like to meet some of our other team now, see here.