An important component of DBT is the use of skills training to help manage the extreme beliefs, actions, and attitudes that form the criteria for borderline personality disorder. In actual therapy sessions, the video shows Dr. Linehan teaching patients the use of such skills as mindfulness, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and emotional regulation. Vividly depicting the various stages of treatment, this program shows how DBT helps clients decrease negative behaviors and work toward personal goals. Designed for therapists, the video is also suitable for use in client and family education. In an especially compelling feature, the video includes live interview sessions between Dr. Linehan and Allen J. Frances, Chairman of the DSM-IV Task Force. In these probing dialogues, Dr. Frances asks Dr. Linehan the nuts-and-bolts questions all clinicians want answered about how DBT works and what its advantages are over other therapies.
Marsha M. Linehan, PhD, ABPP, is the developer of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) and Professor of Psychology and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics at the University of Washington. Her primary research interest is in the development and evaluation of evidence-based treatments for populations with high suicide risk and multiple, severe mental disorders.
Dr. Linehan's contributions to suicide research and clinical psychology research have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Application of Psychology from the American Psychological Foundation and the James McKeen Cattell Award from the Association for Psychological Science. In her honor, the American Association of Suicidology created the Marsha Linehan Award for Outstanding Research in the Treatment of Suicidal Behavior.
She is a Zen master and teaches mindfulness and contemplative practices via workshops and retreats for health care providers.
Marsha M. Linehan, PhD, ABPP, is Professor of Psychology and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington, Seattle, and Director of the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics there. She is founder of the Marie Institute of Behavioral Technology and the company Behavioral Tech, LLC. The recipient of numerous awards for her distinguished clinical and research contributions, Dr. Linehan has served as president (2007) of the Society of Clinical Psychology, Division 12 of the American Psychological Association.
