Which Elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Are the Most Beneficial?

Skills specific to DBT seem to be central to improvement in suicidality.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) reduces suicidality and treatment dropout in patients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). The group that introduced DBT conducted a prospective, randomized study of different combinations of DBT components in 99 women with BPD (mean age, 30) matched for relevant clinical factors. Most participants had at least two suicide attempts or episodes of nonsuicidal self-injurious behavior (NSSI) within the past 2 years and at least one more-recent event.

The study included 1 year of treatment and another year of follow-up. Treatment arms were standard DBT (individual therapy, group skills training, between-session coaching, therapist consultation), DBT-I (individual therapy focused on skills that patients a…

Reviewing Author

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Which Elements of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Are the Most Beneficial?

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Reviewing Author