Dialectical Behaviour Therapy is an evidence-based treatment initially developed for the treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) by Professor Marsha M. Linehan. In more recent years, DBT has been recognised as a treatment for suicidal and self-harming behaviours, pervasive emotion dysregulation as well as BPD.
Its popularity began, and grew exponentially, in the USA prior to its recognition and favour in Europe, chiefly due to its success in effectively treating complex presentations and difficult-to-treat client populations. The latest research on DBT indicates:
- DBT is an effective treatment for people with BPD (Storebø et al., 2020)
- DBT is more effective than treatment as usual at reducing BPD symptomatology, inappropriate anger, self-harming behaviour, and improving general functioning (Storebø et al., 2020)
- Emotion regulation skills use is a fundamental facilitator of change for clients participating in DBT (Mehlum, 2021; McMain et al., 2018; Kramer et al., 2016)
- Standalone DBT skills training improves emotion dysregulation, anxiety symptoms, depression and binge eating disorder/ bulimia (Delaquis et al., 2022)
- Enhanced emotion regulation leads to improvements in mindfulness skills which results in reductions in BPD symptomatology (Hood et al., 2024)
- DBT can be effective in other populations such as those with eating disorders, substance misuse, adolescents with self-harming behaviours, and forensic settings (Storebø et al., 2020)
- There are two major adaptations for clients with BPD and PTSD both of which have evidence for their efficacy (Harned et al, 2022; Bohus et al, 2020; Prillinger et al, 2024)
- DBT reduces suicide and self-harming behaviour and general PTSD in inpatient populations with a history of childhood sexual abuse (Bohus et al., 2012)
- Individuals with psychosis may benefit from a DBT-skills based intervention (Lawlor et al., 2022)
- DBT in forensic settings is successful at treating antisocial attitudes and personality traits, substance use, education and family issues (Tomlinson, 2018)
- DBT may be superior at treating substance use compared to alternative treatments (Haktanir & Callender, 2020)
- DBT, with some skills modification, was found to be acceptable by, and may be helpful for, adults with autism spectrum disorder without intellectual disability (Bemmouma et al., 2022; Ritschel et al., 2022; Huntjens et al, 2025)
- DBT is recommended by NICE for treatment of women with a diagnosis of BPD who are suicidal and self-harming (NICE, 2012) as well as adolescents who are suicidal self-harming (NICE, 2022)
- Findings suggest that sexual minority and racial/ethnic minority people may benefit from DBT as much as heterosexual and Non-Hispanic White people, respectively. (Harned et al., 2022)
- DBT trials in the US have been shown to be representative of the ethnic and racial demographics in the US. Sexually minoritised people were slightly overrepresented in those studies. (Harned et al. 2022)
Why DBT?
Research shows that DBT improves symptomatology of BPD and associated transdiagnostic behaviours such as non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), suicide attempts, depression, dysfunctional eating, and feelings of hopelessness. The latest National Institute and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines propose DBT as the treatment of choice for women with BPD (NICE, 2012) and adolescents with significant emotion regulation difficulties and frequent episodes of self-harm (NICE, 2022).
Helping Clients
Providing a DBT Programme to your clients teaches them the DBT skills necessary to regulate emotions, control suicidal and self-harming behaviours and improve interpersonal relations and, most importantly, help them develop a life worth living. […]
The Development of DBT
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (Linehan, 1993) was developed in the early 1990s by Marsha Linehan in the University of Washington, Seattle. […]
DBT Articles
- Requirements for Intensive and Foundation Training 2018
- Implementing DBT: selecting, training and supervising a team
- Implementing DBT: Organizational pre-treatment
- What are the Components of a Comprehensive DBT Programme
- Developing the financial case for DBT training
- Financial-Cost-Effectiveness-DBT
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. […]
Please Download our Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Training Brochure. This Brochure contains an insight into what DBT can offer with a view to training. We also have a page sharing the development of DBT, where you can grasp a greater understanding of this therapy and its development over the years.