Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)
Definition
Marsha Linehan's structured treatment for borderline personality disorder, combining acceptance and change strategies across four skill modules (mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness). Adapted for forensic inpatient settings by Evershed, Low, and others.
- Developer
- Marsha Linehan
- Primary target condition
- Borderline personality disorder
- Skill modules
- Mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness
- Forensic adaptation
- Evershed, Low and colleagues
Common questions
How does DBT combine acceptance and change in practice?+
DBT pairs validation of the client's current emotional experience with structured skills training aimed at behaviour change, on the reasoning that clients with intense, poorly regulated emotions need to feel accepted before they can engage with strategies to alter harmful patterns like self-harm or impulsive aggression.
Why was DBT adapted specifically for forensic inpatient settings?+
Standard DBT was designed for outpatient treatment of self-harm and suicidality, so forensic adaptations adjust the format and skill focus for detained populations, where the treatment targets also include institutional violence, offending-related emotion dysregulation, and functioning within a secure ward environment.
Related terms
- Community Treatment Order (CTO)
- A legal order under the Mental Health Act 1983 (England and Wales) requiring a patient discharged from hospital to adhere to specified...
- Dangerous Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD)
- A UK policy category (not a diagnostic term) for individuals assessed as presenting grave and immediate danger due to personality disorder. DSPD...
- Mentally Disordered Offender (MDO)
- An individual who has committed an offence and who has a diagnosable mental disorder that is aetiologically or functionally linked to that...
- Moral Reconation Therapy (MRT)
- Greg Little and Kenneth Robinson's manualized group programme targeting moral reasoning development through structured workbook exercises. Widely used in US corrections; evidence...
- Multi-Systemic Therapy (MST)
- Scott Henggeler's community-based intensive family therapy for serious juvenile offenders, targeting all ecological levels (family, peers, school, neighbourhood) simultaneously. Has strong RCT...
- NIMHANS
- National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore; India's principal academic forensic mental health centre, providing court-ordered assessments and limited forensic treatment...
- Schema-Focused Therapy (SFT)
- Jeffrey Young's CBT extension for personality disorder, addressing early maladaptive schemas through a combination of cognitive restructuring, experiential techniques, and the therapeutic...