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Predictors of Adoption and Reach Following Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training™

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Abstract

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based treatment for borderline personality disorder. The DBT Intensive Training™ is widely used to train community clinicians to deliver DBT, but little is known about its effectiveness. This study prospectively evaluated predictors of adoption and reach of DBT among 52 community teams (212 clinicians) after DBT Intensive Training™. Pre-post training questionnaires were completed by trainees and a follow-up survey by team leaders approximately 8 months later. Overall, 75% of teams adopted all DBT modes and delivered DBT to an average of 118 clients. Lower training and program needs, fewer bachelor’s-level clinicians, and greater prior DBT experience predicted adoption of more DBT modes. More prior DBT experience, smaller team size, more negative team functioning, and staff with lower job satisfaction, growth, efficacy, and influence predicted greater DBT reach. DBT Intensive Training™ appears effective in promoting DBT adoption and reach in routine clinical practice settings.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by a grant from the Linehan Institute. We acknowledge and thank the following individuals for their support and contributions to this research: Mathew Tkachuck, Sara Landes, Yevgeny Botanov, Beverly Kikuta and the trainers from Behavioral Tech, LLC who helped with administering and collecting the surveys.

Funding

This research was funded by a grant from the Linehan Institute.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics, Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Maria V. Navarro-Haro, Melanie S. Harned, Kathryn E. Korslund, Tianying Chen & Marsha M. Linehan

  2. Behavioral Tech, LLC, Seattle, WA, USA

    Melanie S. Harned, Anthony DuBose & André Ivanoff

  3. Hospital Universitario General de Cataluña, Instituto Trastorno Límite, Sant Cugat, Barcelona, Spain

    Maria V. Navarro-Haro

  4. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA

    Tianying Chen

Authors
  1. Maria V. Navarro-Haro
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  2. Melanie S. Harned
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  3. Kathryn E. Korslund
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  4. Anthony DuBose
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  5. Tianying Chen
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  6. André Ivanoff
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  7. Marsha M. Linehan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria V. Navarro-Haro.

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Conflict of interest

Drs. DuBose and Ivanoff are employees of Behavioral Tech, LLC, an organization that provides professional training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), including DBT Intensive Training. Drs. Harned, Korslund, DuBose, Ivanoff, and Linehan are compensated for providing training and consultation in DBT. Dr. Linehan receives royalties from Guilford Press for books she has written on DBT and from Behavioral Tech, LLC for DBT training materials she has developed. She also owns Behavioral Tech Research, Inc. a company that develops training and clinical products for DBT. Dr. Navarro-Haro and Tianying Chen declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. All procedures were approved by the University of Washington Institutional Review Board. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Navarro-Haro, M.V., Harned, M.S., Korslund, K.E. et al. Predictors of Adoption and Reach Following Dialectical Behavior Therapy Intensive Training™. Community Ment Health J 55, 100–111 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-018-0254-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-018-0254-8

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