Dialectical Behaviour Therapy

Programme Areas

Mental health

Programme Type

Non-acute specialist mental health community services

Regions

Waikato

Age Groups

Adult

Referral Types

DHB clinical services

Referral Process

Referrals to DBT must be accepted by a Community Mental Health team.

Description

Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) is a method of treatment designed for people with a confirmed diagnosis of Borderline Personality Disorder. Marsha Linehan PhD was the founder of this programme and states that "DBT is a life enhancement program, not a suicide prevention program". (M.Linehan, 2003.) The emphasis of the programme is on acceptance, compassion and validation. Treatment focuses on accepting the client as they are at the moment while trying to help them change.

We currently have one DBT team, split between Thames and Hamilton. The programme normally takes one year to complete and involves both weekly individual therapy with a trained DBT therapist and attending a two-hour skills training group, once a week. Both aspects of the programme are equally important. The DBT clinicians meet weekly as a team for consultation and supervision.