26th Annual ISITDBT Conference

November 18, 2021

Presented Virtually

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NOVEMBER 18, 2021

The 2021 ISITDBT Conference was presented virtually with no in-person component on 11.18.2021.  The conference was recorded and is now available on demand.  A webinar library is also open to those who have registered for the conference.  The webinar library and video recording of the live conference will be available to those who registered through October 1, 2022.

ISITDBT 2021 PROGRAM

10:00-10:10 Mindfulness (Erica Tan, PsyD)
10:10-10:20 Orientation (Nicholas Salsman, PhD and Alison Yaeger, PsyD)
10:20-11:20 Keynote Address: The Psychopathology of Self Disgust (Bunmi Olatunji, PhD)
11:20-11:50 Research Lightning Round
Randomized Clinical Trial of a Brief, Scalable Intervention for Mental Health Sequelae in College Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic. (Shireen L. Rizvi, PhD, Allison K. Ruork, PhD, Jesse Finkelstein, Annmarie WachaMontes, April L. Yeager, Qingqing Yin, John Kellerman, Joanne S. Kim, Molly Stern, Linda A. Oshin, and Evan M. Kleiman)A Cost Benefit Analysis of DBT-ACES Across Three Programs (Adam Carmel, PhD, Katherine Anne Comtois, PhD, MPH, Lisa Bolden, PsyD, and Lynn McFarr, PhD)Cultural Adaptations of Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Systematic Review (Stephanie L. Haft, Sinclaire M. O’Grady, Esme A.L. Shaller, PhD, & Nancy H. Liu, PhD)
11:50-12:05 Break
12:05-12:50 Clinical Workshop: Preparing the Environment for Change: Pretreatment with Families (Lauren Yadiosky, PhD, Armida Fruzzetti, PhD, Briana Carbone, LICSW, Daniel Crump, LICSW, and Alison Yaeger, PsyD)
12:50-02:05 Brunch, Lunch or Dinner
02:05-03:05 Panel Discussion: “You Didn’t Cause Racism, and You Have to Solve it Anyways”: Antiracist Adaptions to Dialectical Behavior Therapy for White Therapists (Ashley Pierson, PhD, Vinushini Arunagiri, PhD, and Debra Bond, PhD)
03:05-03:50 Clinical Workshop: Using Cognitive Strategies in Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder (Scott Waltman, PsyD, Lynn McFarr, PhD and Hollie Granato, PhD)
03:50-04:05 Break
04:05-05:00 Invited Workshop: Doing Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Sexual & Gender Minority People: A Live Demonstration (Jeffrey M. Cohen, PsyD and Cindy J. Chang, PsyM)
05:00-05:10 DBT – LBC update (Kimberly Vay, EdD, LPC, CPCS)
05:10-05:45 Annual update on DBT Research (Melanie Harned, PhD)
05:45-06:00 Award Presentation and Closing Remarks (Nicholas Salsman, PhD and Alison Yaeger, PsyD)
06:00-07:00 Virtual Poster Session and Cocktail Hour

ISITDBT 2021 RESEARCH LIGHTING ROUND

See below for accepted presentations.

 

A Brief, Scaleable Intervention for COVID-19 Mental Health Sequelae in College Students: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Initial Efficacy of DBT Skills Videos

Authors: Shireen L. Rizvi, Jesse Finkelstein, Annmarie Wachas-Montes, April Yeager, Allison Ruork, Qingqing Yin, John K. Kellerman, Joanne Kim, Molly Stern, Linda Oshin, & Evan Kleiman; Rutgers University

Abstract:

High prevalence of mental health concerns among college students combined with the impact of COVID-19 and other stressors of 2020 has suggested a dire need for mental health resources. The current study aimed to determine the feasibility, acceptability, and initial efficacy of brief (<5 minutes) Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills videos in reducing distress and increasing self-efficacy for managing emotions among college students.

The study involved a sample of 153 undergraduate students at a large, public university in the US (5.9% Black, 45.1% White, 39.2% Asian; 15.7% Latinx). Participants completed (1) a pre-assessment period (weeks 1-2), (2) an intervention period (weeks 3-4), and (3) a post-assessment period (weeks 5-6). Participants randomized to the intervention condition received animated DBT skills videos for 14 successive days (n=99). Throughout the study period, all participants received ecological momentary assessments on affect, self-efficacy of managing emotions, and bearability of emotions four times per day via smartphone.

Results indicated that the study design was feasible and intervention was acceptable to participants, as demonstrated by moderate to high assessment compliance rates and ratings on videos (e.g., perceived relevance). Comparing pre- to post-video ratings by the intervention group, we found significant reductions in negative affect (b = -0.35, p < .001) as well as increases in positive affect (b = 0.46, p < .001). We also found a significant interaction between the effects of study period (i.e., time) and condition on unbearability of emotions. The interaction suggested that participants in the control condition rated their emotions as more unbearable in the last four weeks than in the first two weeks (b = 0.07, p < .001), whereas the experimental condition did not rate their emotions as any more unbearable in the post-video period than in the pre-video period (b = 0.01, p = .70).

This brief, highly scalable intervention could extend the reach of mental health treatment and thus serve as a first line of defense that helps reduce distress and prevent mental health conditions from developing. Given the ease of dissemination, it may also have treatment utility far beyond college student populations and/or the current pandemic.

A Cost Benefit Analysis of DBT-ACES Across Three Community Mental Health Programs

Authors: Adam Carmel, PhD, Katherine Anne Comtois, PhD, MPH Lisa Bolden, PsyD, Lynn McFarr PhD, (University of Washington, University of Washington, UCLA)

Abstract:

DBT-ACES (DBT–Accepting the Challenges of Employment and Self-Sufficiency) was developed to help graduates of Standard DBT (SDBT) overcome systemic issues associated with maintaining employment, increasing self-sufficiency, and achieving lives-worth-living outside of financial dependency and psychiatric disability. Similar to the year of SDBT, DBT-ACES is an intensive one-year outpatient program that combines skills training focused on contingency management and exposure strategies with a specific goal of increasing living-wage employment.

A cost-benefit analysis was conducted across three DBT-ACES programs: Harborview DBT and Harbor-UCLA in the U.S., and Klinik Lengerich in Germany. We measured costs associated with inpatient stays that occurred during the 1 year prior to admission to the SDBT program (Pre-SDBT), 1 year of the SDBT program (Pre-ACES) and the 1 year of the DBT-ACES program (Post-ACES). Preliminary analysis included the costs and cost-offsets associated with DBT-ACES relative to SDBT. We modeled the person-period using individual multivariable generalized linear models (GLM) for inpatient costs, and workplace and educational benefits (Comtois et al., 2020).

The mean predicted cost differential for the Pre-ACES versus Pre-SDBT period was -$16,491 (SE=6,119; p=0.01). The mean predicted cost differential for Post-ACES versus Pre-SDBT was very similar at -$17,187 (SE=6,281; p=0.01). Thus, the predicted cost differential for the Post-ACES vs Pre-ACES period was statistically insignificant ($-696; SE=392; p=.08), due to no further change in the use of inpatient care during the DBT-ACES year. However, the predicted monetary benefit differential for school and workplace benefits during the Post-ACES vs Pre-ACES period was $546 (SE=123; p<0.001) demonstrating that the school and workplace benefits continued to increase. The estimated increase in value due to reduced inpatient stays and increased school/workforce participation did not significantly offset the estimated per-client cost of the intervention. The per-client cost of the intervention would have to drop to approximately $4,500 before the estimated offset would produce a statistically significant net-monetary benefit.

The cost-benefit analysis found substantial savings of the program of over $17,000 per client compared to the year prior to SDBT. The cost offset during the SDBT program was primarily driven by the decrease in inpatient stays. However, evidence of significant school and workplace benefits were also observed in both the SDBT and DBT-ACES years compared to the year prior to SDBT with the latter over three times the former. Results indicate that DBT-ACES programs are capable of generating a large net monetary benefit to insurers and society (Comtois et al., 2020).

Cultural Adaptations of Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Systematic Review

Authors: Stephanie L. Haft, Sinclaire M. O’Grady, Esme A.L. Shaller, PhD and Nancy H. Liu, PhD  – University of California Berkeley, University of California, San Francisco, shared first authorship.

Objective: Adapting mental health care interventions to the race, ethnicity, or culture of the target group can enhance the acceptance and effectiveness of the treatment. Given the demonstrated efficacy of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), practitioners and researchers have made efforts to adapt DBT to particular cultural contexts. Indeed, as DBT is a principle-driven evidence-based treatment, it is particularly well-suited for adaptations across cultural contexts. These cultural adaptations may entail modifications to DBT’s content, process, or delivery to render it more congruent with a client’s cultural beliefs and practices. Although cultural adaptations of other widespread psychotherapies such as cognitive behavioral therapy have been synthesized in extant systematic reviews, a corresponding review of cultural adaptations of DBT does not yet exist. This is surprising given the growing prominence of DBT, as well as increasing evidence of high rates of suicidality and dysregulation among cultural and ethnic minority groups (e.g., Curtin & Hedegaard, 2019). A comprehensive examination of cultural adaptations of DBT can illuminate the extent of its applicability, as well as directions for future research and treatment development. Our presentation will present data from a systematic review of the literature on the nature and extent of cultural adaptations of DBT to date

Method: We searched databases for original articles describing cultural adaptations of DBT, as applied to both (a) ethnic minority populations within Western countries and (b) populations within non-Western countries. Consistent with the focus on descriptively characterizing extant DBT cultural adaptations, we included both published and non-published studies, as well as both observational and experimental studies. Our search was conducted following the 2020 Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, and our protocol was registered on the Open Science Framework.

Results: Our search yielded 18 articles that met inclusion criteria. Of these articles, approximately half investigated DBT cultural adaptations within cross-cultural contexts, and the remainder described adaptations made with racial and ethnic minority groups and individuals within Western countries. The adaptations implemented in the majority of the articles were “surface” level adaptations to the language or metaphors used in DBT (Bernal et al., 1995; Resnicow et al., 1999)

Conclusions: Culturally adapted DBT has been implemented and accepted among several racial, ethnic, and cultural groups, with several common components. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether culturally adapted DBT is more efficacious than non-adapted DBT. We will conclude our presentation with practical recommendations for DBT researchers and practitioners, and how our findings fit into larger efforts to render existing evidence-based psychotherapies more optimal for racial and ethnic minority clients. In particular, we believe our data are well-suited to a lightning round format as we will have short, digestible summary points compiled from reviewed papers on examples and best practices in translating DBT cultural adaptations into clinical practice.

ISITDBT 2021 WEBINARS

DBT-LBC Certification: Navigating the Process and Becoming Involved. Presented by Kim Vay, EdD, LPC, CPCS and colleagues

After all the classwork, trainings, hours of clinical practice and supervision, what is next? Certification is one of the best ways to ‘double down’ on your focus on DBT. Learn more about the process of becoming certified by the DBT- Linehan Board of Certification, a volunteer-driven organization co-founded with the developer of the treatment. This webinar will be broken up into three segments: Program certification, Individual certification, and Volunteering.

We will briefly discuss the steps of DBT-LBC certification and will focus on the actual experiences of DBT clinicians who have been certified by DBT-LBC individually, or as a program. We hope to bring enthusiasm to the DBT community and work to ‘expand the map’ of certified clinicians and programs nationwide. We will also hear from some of the volunteers who make the process work, what they have gained by volunteering, and why you might want to consider volunteering as well! Please join us!

 

What the Heck is Adherent DBT? A New Pragmatic Measure for Evaluating Adherence in DBT Individual Therapy. Presented by Melanie Harned, PhD, ABPP & Sara Schmidt, PhD

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a comprehensive, principle-driven treatment that requires clinicians to learn and apply a large number of strategies and protocols. Given the complexity of the treatment, it is understandable that many clinicians find it difficult to deliver the treatment with adherence to the manual (Linehan, 1993). Indeed, recent research suggests that almost half of DBT individual therapy sessions delivered by clinicians in routine care settings may be below the threshold for adherence.

To date, a significant barrier to monitoring and improving the quality of DBT services has been the lack of pragmatic measures of adherence to DBT. In this workshop, we will introduce the DBT Adherence Checklist – Individual Therapy (DBT AC-I; Harned, Schmidt, & Korslund, 2021), a newly developed pragmatic measure that can be used to facilitate implementation and dissemination of DBT and guide quality improvement efforts in routine practice settings. The 26-item DBT AC-I was empirically derived from the 66-item DBT Adherence Coding Scale (DBT ACS; Linehan & Korslund, 2003), the gold standard observer-rated measure of adherence to DBT.

The DBT AC-I includes the subset of strategies that are most critical to delivering adherent DBT individual therapy. Emphasis will be placed on clarifying what constitutes adherent versus non-adherent delivery of these strategies via lecture and clinical examples. Additionally, research evaluating the DBT AC-I as a therapist self-report and observer-rated measure will be reviewed and recommended uses of the measure will be provided.

This workshop assumes participants have general and applied knowledge of DBT treatment strategies and will not include a basic review of DBT.

From Values to Action Steps: Finding, Training, and Implementing DBT Co-leaders. Presented by Natalie Dunn, BA, Eric Matsunaga BA, Carolyn Williams, BA, Andrew White, PhD, ABPP, and Linda Dimeff, PhD

Co-leaders are integral to DBT skills training group effectiveness. As defined by Linehan (2015), the co-leader role encompasses duties that include crisis management, in vivo skills coaching, mediating tensions between client and group leader, and overall maintenance of attendance and participation. DBT skills training leaders and co-leaders model dialectical synthesis while supporting one another in the complex task of facilitating a skills training group of multi-diagnostic, severe and complex clients, many of whom are also chronically suicidal. Indeed, inclusion of co-leaders is a requirement for adherence in standard outpatient DBT skills training groups (Linehan, 2015). Yet, a number of real-world challenges make it difficult for clinics to include a co-leader: payers only allow billing for one therapist (and often for only one hour); long wait times to enter a DBT program create conditions to judiciously limit staffing of groups to a single licensed clinician in order to serve more people on the wait list. 

 In order to address these real-world problems while also ensuring adherence to DBT, clinics require ways to recruit, train, and retain DBT skills co-leaders. This presentation provides an innovative blueprint for recruiting, training, and implementing DBT co-leaders developed and successfully implemented by Portland DBT Institute. Presenters will overview strategies to build and maintain an effective DBT skills training co-leader program within existing payment structures. Finally, implications for promoting equitable access to clinical training will be discussed with an emphasis on addressing barriers that prevent otherwise qualified individuals from entering the field or pursuing academic study.

 

Skills Groups for Clients on the Waitlist - Authors: Andrew White, PhD, Portland DBT Institute, Portland, OR, Carson Robinson, LICSW, Harborview Medical Center, Seattle, WA

Full fidelity DBT programs often find themselves in the unenviable position of maintaining long  waitlists for services due to high demand for treatment and limited staff resources for individual  therapy. Providing services to individuals on waitlists has the potential to help individuals access  evidence-based treatment sooner, give support to when no other high-quality treatments options while  waitlisted, and start skills training faster. Organizations may also have financial, ethical, and  development incentives for offering such a group, with potential clinical benefits for clients.  

This presentation will convey lessons learned from clinicians who have developed and managed  waitlist-focused skills training groups, both in a large private clinic and in a community mental health  clinic. In addition to presentation of available outcome data, presenters will address organizational,  legal, motivational, and financial barriers to implementing such a group. In addition, the presentation  will cover strategies for enhancing the effectiveness of these groups, such as orienting and preparing  clients for the group, targeting therapy-interfering-behaviors in this context, managing risk, working  with outside providers, and targeting group cohesion. Considerations such as whether to offer one-on one support to clients, whether to have co-leaders, and selecting the didactic content for the group will  also be discussed.  

Learning objectives: By the conclusion of this presentation, participants will learn the following:  

1) Understand rationale and benefits (including available outcome data) for offering a skills group  for waitlisted clients  

2) Principles to apply when creating protocols for skills-only groups in order to manage risk, treat  therapy-interfering behaviors, and help individuals acquire, generalize, and strengthen skills 

3) Address organizational, legal, motivational, and financial barriers to implementing such a group 

4) Enhance the effectiveness of the groups 

ISITDBT 2021 CLINICAL WORKSHOPS

Authors:

Scott Waltman, PsyD, ABPP, Center for Dialectical and Cognitive Behavior Therapy, San Antonio, TX
Lynn McFarr, PhD, DBT-California, Los Angeles, CA
Hollie Granato, PhD, Clinical Instructor, University of California – Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Abstract:

While cognitive modification is cited as a primary intervention in DBT, a barrier to using it with DBT clients is that high levels of emotion dysregulations can impede the process of exploring beliefs. As a result, clinicians may err on the side of avoiding integrating cognitive strategies into stage 1 DBT or give up easily. Cognitive strategies are well studied, even within personality disorders, and more focused attention to them may enhance outcomes in DBT. This workshop will focus on using DBT strategies like emotion regulation skills and the behavioral chain analysis to create the necessary conditions for the effective use of Socratic strategies.

This workshop will focus on how and when to incorporate cognitive strategies into stage 1 DBT, taking cognitive modification beyond the checking facts skill and equipping clinicians with a theoretical framework to empower them towards using more robust cognitive techniques with emotionally dysregulated clients. Skills and strategies that will be presented are consistent with the DBT model and are configured in a manner to maximize the potential for successful Socratic strategies. All Socratic strategies presented are grounded in behavioral therapy and focus on fostering behavior change.

New skills such as the Cognitive Chain Analysis and Socratic Dialectical Method Thought Record use DBT components and are presented (worksheets included). Key elements for working with this population include using regulation strategies prior to cognitive strategies, and then connecting the outcome of the Socratic evaluation to behavior change.

 

Preparing the Environment for Change: Pre-Treatment with Families

Authors:   Lauren Yadlosky, Ph.D., Armida Fruzzetti, Ph.D., Daniel Crump, LICSW, Briana Carbone, LICSW, Alison Yaeger, PsyD

Affiliation:   McLean Hospital | Harvard Medical School

Abstract:

Pretreatment is a crucial stage of adherent DBT that carefully and strategically elucidates goals,  communicates expectations, and prepares individuals and clinicians to partner together to build a  life worth living. In adult and adolescent DBT, this process largely focuses on the identified  client. However, given the developmental needs of clients in DBT-A, parents and caregivers are  also actively involved in treatment, including multi-family skills groups and family therapy  sessions. At McLean Hospital’s 3East Outpatient DBT Program, directly incorporating parents  and caregivers into the pretreatment process helps build and maintain their commitment,  motivation, and dedication to their own change during our 20-week program.

Anchored by the biosocial theory (Linehan, 1993) and transactional model of DBT (Fruzzetti,  Shenk, & Hoffman, 2005), presenters introduce a developmentally sensitive rationale for  increasing parental / caregiver participation in pretreatment. Next presenters outline how parental  / caregiver pretreatment is sustainably integrated into their comprehensive DBT-A program. This  includes targeted intake procedures and processes, practicum-student-led “DBT parent skill  bootcamp,” and caregiver diary cards. The integration of a 2-day caregiver-only intensive  workshop will also be discussed.

Presenters will share their experience creating and implementing these caregiver pretreatment  components and insights regarding the effectiveness of these efforts to increase engagement and  collaboration within the family system. The impact on both caregivers and teens will be  discussed. Experiences will be compared and contrasted to more teen-only focused pretreatment  efforts. Lastly, presenters discuss how caregiver pretreatment processes can be implemented with  limited clinician burden and cost to parents while still maximizing effectiveness.

Learning objectives:

  1. Identify at least 3 ways to incorporate parents/caregivers into pretreatment in an  insurance-based DBT-A program
  2. Identify at least 3 DBT skills for parents to learn in pretreatment to support the  effectiveness of future DBT family therapy
  3. Name at least 3 benefits for families/teens for greater parental/caregiver involvement in  DBT-A pretreatment

Doing Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Sexual & Gender Minority People:
a Live Demonstration

Authors:   Jeffrey M. Cohen, PsyD; Columbia University Irving Medical Center

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) people experience chronic invalidation in the form of societal stigma, discrimination, marginalization, and oppression. Invalidation of SGM identities drive well-documented mental health disparities including elevated rates of suicide, substance use, and depression, indicative of emotional and behavioral dysregulation. While many mental health professionals are motivated to use DBT to treat these problems, many less are adequately prepared to comprehensively treat emotional and behavioral dysregulation impacted by minority stress in SGM people. Therefore, disparities for this minoritized group will persist and the impact and outcomes of evidence-based practice, including DBT, may be limited.

This workshop overviews how minority stress (Meyer, 2003) impacts mental health problems in SGM populations along with strategies to conceptualize and intervene in these problems. The workshop focuses on demonstrations of how to adapt and apply DBT to clinical work with SGM people. The session includes live demonstrations of the individual psychotherapy and the skills-training group modes of DBT. These demonstrations illustrate how to teach DBT skills with adapted teaching points relating to minority stress, and how to conduct a behavior chain analysis relevant to SGM health disparities.

 Learning Objectives:

  • Develop case conceptualizations of emotional and behavioral dysregulation using an integration of biosocial theory and SGM stress frameworks.
  • Articulate how to integrate minority stress theories with the biosocial model of emotion dysregulation for clinical work with SGM people.
  • Identify ways to adapt DBT skills training when working with SGM people.
  • Conduct a behavior chain analysis that is affirming and relevant to the identities and health of SGM people.
  • Apply change-based strategies in DBT to promote social justice for SGM communities.

ISITDBT 2021 POSTER PRESENTATIONS

  • Investigating Borderline Symptomatology and Emotion Dysregulation in a Community-Based Comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy Program. – Emily Munoz1,2, Zane Ballard1,3, Kim Skerven PhD., Taylor Davine PhD1 (1Center for Behavioral Medicine ,2University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, 3Marquette University)
  • The Relationship Between Childhood Invalidation and Borderline Personality  Disorder Symptoms Through Rejection Sensitivity and Experiential Avoidance – Ryan Stadnik, MA and Nicholas Salsman, PhD (Xavier University)
  • A Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills + Parenting Skills Group: An Idiographic Approach to Advance Treatment Development for Emotionally Dysregulated Parent-Child Dyads. – Yoel Everett , April Lightcap, Arianna Zarosinski and Maureen Zalewski, PhD (University of Oregon)
  • Acceptance Moderating Effectiveness of DBT during COVID-19 – Alyson DiRocco, PsyD, Andrew Rogers, MA, Marget Thomas, PsyD, Robert Montgomery,  MA, and Lynn McFarr, PhD (CBT California)
  • Child and Adolescent Predictors of Adult Borderline Personality Disorder: A Prospective, Longitudinal Study of Females with and without ADHD– Sinclaire M. O’Grady1 & Stephen P. Hinshaw1,2 (1University of California, Berkeley, 2University of California, San Francisco)
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Justice-Involved Veterans: An Acceptability & Feasibility Trial – Emily R. Edwards, PhD1,2 , Ariana Dichiara, PsyD1, Shoshana Linzer, MA3, Kristen Riglietti, MA4, Gabriella Epshteyn, BA4, & Shayne Snyder, BA4 (1James J Peters VA Medical Center, VISN 2 MIRECC, 2Yale School of Medicine, 3Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, 4Teachers College, Columbia University)
  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Utilization: A Three-month Follow-up Study on Clinical Outcomes – Qingqing Yin, Alexandra King, Jeganee Srijeyanthan and Shireen L. Rizvi (Rutgers University)
  • Using DBT skills to reduce test anxiety in high school students – Eva Fava-Rodrigues and Joanna Fava, PhD
  • Emotion Dysregulation and Distress Tolerance Moderate Borderline Personality Symptoms and Suicide Plans in Military VeteransImage – Samantha V. Jacobson1, MS, Sydney R. Eckert1, MS, Michael D. Anestis, PhD, and Keyne C. Law, PhD (1Doctoral Student, Seattle Pacific University)
  • Evaluating the impact of Dialectical Behavior Therapy training on inpatient psychiatry trainees’ therapeutic care. – Deborah Zlotnik, PhD, Alex Yoon, MD, Eleanor Mackey, PhD, and Colby Tyson, MD (Children’s National Hospital and George Washington University)
  • Intrinsic Religiosity & Mindfulness in DBTI – Caroline Kutschbach, M. Thomas, R. Andrew, and Lynn McFarr.
  • Mind the Gap! Development of a Co-Leader Supervision Group – Eric Matsunaga, BA, Natalie Dunn, BA, Carolyn Williams, BA, Andrew White, PhD,  ABPP, and Linda Dimeff, PhD (Portland DBT Institute)
  • The Differential Effects of Childhood Trauma Predicting Features of Borderline Personality Disorder – Katherine Christensen, Danielle Esses, and Janice Kuo, PhD (Stanford-PGSP PsyD Consortium)
  • The Role of Parent Involvement on Primary Outcomes in DBT for Adolescents – Marget Thomas, PsyD, Andrew Rogers, MA, Rob Montgomery, MA, Ky Anderson, MFT, and Lynn M. McFarr, PhD (CBT California)
  • Children of Mothers with Borderline Personality Disorder: Physiological Reactivity and Maternal Invalidation as Risk Factors for Externalizing Behavior – Olivia A. Frigoletto, Amy L. Byrd , Vera Vine, Salome Vanwoerden, Maureen Zalewski and Stephanie D. Stepp (University of Pittsburgh, Department of Psychiatry; University of Oregon, Department of Psychology)
  • The Predictive Effect of Substance Use Disorder on Treatment of Suicidal Behaviors with Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder – Rebecca Cook, MS and Janice Kuo, PhD (Stanford-PGSP PsyD Consortium)

ISITDBT 2021 AWARDS

Student Research Award

This year the ISITDBT board is pleased to offer a $1000 research award for any graduate student or postdoctoral researcher who is establishing a career in DBT research. Please submit your applications by September 6th, 2019.   At the 2019 ISITDBT Conference (isitdbt.net) we will award a $1000 scholarship for the most meritorious research application coming from a graduate student or postdoctoral researcher. The award can complement existing funding to support an exciting line of DBT research. If you are interested in applying, please submit a 3-page proposal for a research project that identifies mechanisms of change in DBT or otherwise identifies ways to optimize the treatment. Research proposals concerning the application of DBT to other populations, or advancements in the delivery of DBT are also welcome. The research proposal should follow NIH guidelines and detail significance, innovation, approach, and justification of need. In addition to the research proposal, please submit your CV or NIH biosketch, a one-page budget, a one-page summary of deliverables and future research and training opportunities that could emerge from the research project, and a letter of support from a faculty advisor/mentor. If the award is intended to supplement existing funds, please highlight in the budget or the application the need for the award and where the additional funding to complete the study is coming from. Please ask your mentor to specify in your letter that you are a graduate student or postdoc. Expert DBT researchers will review all submitted proposals and select the most competitive application for this award. The key criteria on which the application will be judged is originality and likelihood that it can begin a promising line of funding that will advance research in DBT.

This year, the ISITDBT board is pleased to offer the ISITDBT Researcher Award. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to research on DBT. Researcher award recipients have gone above the call of duty to strengthen and expand our scientific understanding of DBT.  Previous recipients of the Researcher Award include Kate Comtois (2001), Martin Bohus (2004), Tom Lynch (2005), Alan Fruzzetti (2013), Shelley McMain (2010), and Melanie Harned (2015), among several other leaders in the field. 

Please submit a nomination letter for the ISITDBT Researcher Award indicating the evidence supporting the nominee’s contribution to the DBT Community via the nominee’s efforts to contribute to the research on DBT and/or Borderline Personality Disorder.

Please email isit@isitdbt.net and put in the subject head: Nomination for 2021 Researcher Award, or nominations will not be accepted. 

Nominations for the 2021 ISITDBT  Researcher Award are due October 1, 2021

Previous Award Recipients

1997
Marsha was honored (no award given)

1998

Founder’s Award

Charlie Swenson, MD, is a psychiatrist on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine.

2000

Service Award

Cedar Koons, MSW, LCSW, is a consultant, teacher, researcher, and therapist specifializing in mindfulness-based treatments, including DBT. She is a senior trainer and consultant for Behavioral Tech and cofounder of Santa Fe DBT.

2001

Science Award

Kate Comtois, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington.

2002

Service Award

Alec Miller, PsyD is a licensed clinical psychologist and Co-Founder and Clinical Director of Cognitive and Behavioral Consultants, LLP. He is also Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY.

Educator Award

Charlie Swenson, MD, is a psychiatrist on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine.

Educator Award

Cindy Sanderson

2003

Service Award

Alan Fruzzetti, PhD, is the program director of the 3East Boys Intensive Program at McLean Hospital.

2004

Research Award

Martin Bohus, MD is the Chair of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, Heidelberg University, Medical Faculty Mannheim and the Scientific Director Institute of Psychiatric and Psychosomatic Psychotherapy Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim.

2005

Research Award

Tom Lynch is an Emeritus Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Southampton.

2006

Service Award

Bev Long is a Clinical Psychologist Specialist in Anoka, Minnesota

Service Award

Joan Russo, PhD. After a long career in clinical practice, Dr. Russo continues to carry a torch for her belief in providing resources to support consumers and clinicians in her role on the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification. She now serves as President of the DBT-LBC

2007

Service Award

Rose marie Karparis, RN, MPH

Leadership Award

Shari Manning, PhD, is the CEO and one of the founders of the Treatment Implementation Collaborative, and the founder of the South Carolina Center for DBT.

2008

Service Award

Kelly Koerner, PhD is a clinical psychologist, creative director, and CEO of the Evidence-Based Practice Institute

2009

Educator Award

Heidi Heard, PhD founded the British isles DBT Training, and now serves as the Senior Trainer for Behavioral Tech in Europe and is a clinical instructor at the University of Washington

Educator Award

Michaela Swales, PhD, is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist with BCUHB and Reader in Clinical Psychology on the North Wales Clinical Psychology Programme, School of Psychology, Bangor University.

Educator Award

Cindy Sanderson – joint recipients

2010

Research Award

Shelley McMain, PhD, is a Clinical Psychologist and Head of the Borderline Personality Clinic of the Addictions Section in the Clinical Research Department. She is an Assistant Professor with the Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto as well as an Adjunct Professor with the Department of Psychology at York University.

2011

Educator Award

Linda Dimeff, PhD, is Chief Scientific Officer at Evidence-Based Practice Institute, Inc.; Institute Director at Portland DBT Institute; and Clinical Faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington.

Educator Award

Cindy Sanderson

2013

Research Award

Alan Fruzzetti

2014

Service Award

Adam Payne, PhD, currently serves as a Clinical Supervisor at the University of Washington for graduate students in clinical psychology at the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics (BRTC).

2015

Research Award

Melanie Harned, PhD, ABPP, is the Research Director of the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics.

2016

Educator Award

Jill Rathus, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at Long Island University/CW Post Campus in Brookville, New York, and Co-Director of the Family Violence Program at CW Post

2017

Service Award

Alicia Gonzalez, MSN, RN, CS, is a clinical nurse specialist at North Duke Psychotherapy in Durham, NC.

2017

Service Award

Kathryn Korslund, PhD, is Clinical Director at Thira Health in Bellevue, Washington.

2018

Researcher Award

Marianne Goodman, MD, is a Professor of Psychiatry with Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and a full-time VA clinical research physician at the James J. Peters VA (JJPVA). She is the director and developer of the JJPVA DBT clinical and research program, and has been PI on multiple studies of the biology and treatment of emotion dysregulation in BPD and high-risk suicidal patient samples.

2019

Educator Award

Seth Axelrod, Phd, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry in the Yale School of Medicine, Director of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Services and the Yale-New Haven Psychiatric Hospital Intensive Outpatient Program, and Director of Yale Instruction/Investigation/Intervention in Emotional Lability and Dysregulation (YIELD) Program.

2020

Perry Hoffman Service Award

Shireen L. Rizvi, PhD ABPP, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology at Rutgers University. She was the president of the board of ISITDBT between 2011- 2018 and is a founding member of the International Association for DBT.

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