Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was originally designed by Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., specifically for individuals with self-harm behaviors such as self-cutting, suicide thoughts, urges to suicide and suicide attempts. Many of these individuals meet criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder. More recently, DBT has been used to address other problems including depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, eating disorders and alcohol and drug problems. DBT is an “empirically-supported treatment,” meaning that it has been researched in clinical trials and has been shown to be effective in reducing self-harm behaviors and emotional dyscontrol.

The DBT program at the Tallahassee Memorial Behavioral Health Center is specialized for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder and is comprised of individual weekly therapy and weekly group therapy. The group therapy teaches skills including mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation and distress tolerance. The skills acquired in group are then applied in the client’s life through their individual therapy, which also includes phone coaching during times of client crisis.

In collaboration with the client, the mental health professionals providing various components of the treatment (e.g., therapist, group leaders, psychiatrist, etc) make up the DBT consultation team, which guides the treatment.

The overall goal of DBT is to help clients create “lives worth living,” which may vary from client to client. To do this, DBT organizes treatment into four stages with targets.

Target 1: Reduce and then eliminate life-threatening behaviors.

Target 2: Eliminate behaviors that interfere with treatment.

Target 3: Decrease behaviors that destroy quality of life.

Target 4: Learn skills that help people control attention, increase awareness of the “present moment”, develop and improve relationships, understand emotions and how they function, and tolerate emotional pain without resorting to self-destructive behaviors.

The DBT program requires an initial diagnostic assessment, psycho-education about Borderline Personality Disorder and DBT, followed by commitment to the one-year treatment program.

For details regarding the BHC DBT program, please contact Marilyn E. Jennings, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist, at 431-5120.