Balancing Acceptance and Change: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and the Future of Skills Training

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is a cognitive-behavioral approach that emphasizes the dialectical synthesis of acceptance and change as central to effective treatment. The theory behind the approach is that some people are prone to react in a more intense and out-of-the-ordinary manner toward certain emotional situations, primarily those found in romantic, family, and friend relationships. The core of DBT is skills training in four different modules: mindfulness and distress tolerance (acceptance skills), and interpersonal effectiveness and emotion regulation (change skills). DBT starts from a presumption that people are doing the best they can, and that they must do better, and that they are either lacking skills or are influenced by positive or negative reinforcement within their environment.

The demand for DBT skills-based trainings is now spreading beyond clinical settings and into education and corporate environments as well. An individual’s bio-social-emotional competence is a major predictor of life satisfaction — students and workers who are skilled in managing their emotions, working collaboratively, and tolerating failure and disappointment will find greater personal and professional success.

Family Action Network (FAN) is proud to present the developer of DBT, Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., ABPP, Professor of Psychology and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and Director of the Linehan Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics (BRTC) at UW, a research consortium that develops, evaluates and disseminates treatments for multi-diagnostic, severely disordered, and suicidal populations. Dr. Linehan is also the founder of The Linehan Institute, a non-profit that helps advance mental health through support for education, research, and compassionate, scientifically-based treatments, and the founder of Behavioral Tech Research, Inc., a company that develops innovative online and mobile technologies to disseminate science-based behavioral treatments for mental disorders. This must-see event is an excellent opportunity for clinicians, patients, parents, educators and professionals to learn more.
Sponsored by Family Action Network (FAN), in partnership with Compass Health Center, Erika’s Lighthouse, Josselyn Center, The Mindfulness and Behavior Therapies Program at The Family Institute at Northwestern University, and the Women’s Center at Northwestern University.