Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for At-risk and Suicidal Adolescents

To work with troubled adolescents is challenging, as many of their behaviours are driven by normal adolescent urges in conjunction with the emotional dysregulation that is also characteristic of borderline personality disorder (BPD). In this course, we first set out the theoretical foundations underlying DBT, along with the functions, stages, and modalities of DBT treatment as conceptualised for the original treatment recipients: adults with BPD. The focus then narrows to DBT-A: the form of DBT adapted specifically for adolescents. The characteristics of normal adolescence are summarised and the more accelerated challenges confronting therapists with at-risk or suicidal teen clients are outlined. The course explains the seven adaptations made to standard DBT in order to create DBT-A. Discussion follows of what should be in a DBT-A program: both in terms of program modalities and also the exercises that tend to comprise the five modules of the skills training modality.