Guidelines to finding a DBT therapist

Since DBT requires such intensive training, it is not easy to find an adherent and adequately trained DBT therapist or program.  This link from TARA provides valuable information about what to look for, ask, and how to choose a DBT therapist and program. Here is some words of wisdom copied and pasted from this page:     www.tara4bpd.org/DBT.htm

REMEMBER, DBT IS NOT JUST SKILLS TRAINING.

A program or person who says they do DBT but only offers skills groups is not doing the comprehensive type of DBT that is effective.

HOW TO KNOW IF A THERAPIST DOES DBT?
These are the questions you should ask:

• Have you completed a 10 day intensive DBT training ?
• Are you a member of a DBT consultation team ?
• Have you been supervised by an expert DBT therapist?
• Are you familiar with the main sets of DBT strategies (cognitive behavioral therapy, validation, dialectics)
• Do you teach skills, practice behavior analysis, review diary cards,?
• Do you do phone coaching?
• How many clients have you treated using DBT?

The answer to these questions should be yes. You have a right to check on the therapist’s credentials; to know if the therapist is licensed in his/her state; to know the extent and nature of the therapist’s education and training; the extent of the therapist’s experience in treating clients with similar problems; the therapist’s arrangements for coverage or emergency contacts.

It is possible that a therapist has been partially trained in DBT. If so, and a fully trained therapist is not available, it is referred to as “DBT Informed” or “DBT Lite”. Sometimes some DBT is better than no DBT, it is just important for the consumer to be fully informed.