Conference Agenda

Thursday November 20

07:30 AM – 08:30 AM CDT

Registration Opens

08:30 AM – 09:20 AM CDT

Welcome & Mindfulness

This year’s ISITDBT Conference Co-Chairs, Dr. Alison Tebbett-Mock and Dr. Emily Edwards, will open the conference with welcoming comments. Ms. Geraldine Rodriguez, daughter of Dr. Marsha Linehan, will then share a few comments for the DBT community. Dr. Adam Payne will then lead attendees in a mindfulness practice.

09:20 AM – 10:20 AM CDT

CE Credit Hours: 1.00
In-Person Only

10:20 AM – 11:20 AM CDT

S02 – Research Lightning Round
Madison D. Summarell, MA; Gabrielle Ilagan, MA; Spencer Chen, MA; Shireen L. Rizvi, PhD, ABPP; Linda Oshin, PhD

CE Credit Hours: 1.00
In-Person Only

11:30 AM – 12:45 PM CDT

CE Credit Hours: 1.25
Format: Workshop
In-Person Only

S04 – Culturally Proficient and Culturally Humble Practice in DBT
Lizbeth Gaona, PhD, LCSW; Lisa Bolden, PsyD; Kate Comtois, PhD, MPH

CE Credit Hours: 1.25
Format: Workshop
In-Person Only

S05 – A Real Relationship Between Equals: How to Leverage Lived Experience to Improve Clinical Outcomes
Esme Shaller, PhD; Sabrina M. Darrow, PhD; Kelsey Packwood

CE Credit Hours: 1.25
Format: Workshop
In-Person Only

12:45 PM – 02:15 PM CDT

Lunch Break

01:00 PM – 02:00 PM CDT

DBT Song and Dance

02:15 PM – 03:15 PM CDT

CE Credit Hours: 1.00
Format: Workshop
In-Person Only

S07 – Challenges of International Dissemination of DBT: Legal, Cultural, and Linguistic Differences in South Korea
Yong Beom Cho, PhD

CE Credit Hours: 1.00
Format: Workshop
In-Person Only

S08 – DBT Outcomes Monitoring, Program Evaluation, Implementation, and Clinical Trials: Methodological and Practical Challenges (and How to Solve Them)
Suzanne Decker, PhD; Kate Comtois, PhD, MPH; Melanie Harned, PhD; Diane DeMartino, LCSW; Ryan Holliday, PhD

CE Credit Hours: 1.00
Format: Workshop
In-Person Only

03:15 PM – 03:30 PM CDT

Afternoon Coffee Break

03:30 PM – 04:45 PM CDT

S09 – Invited Anti-Racism & Anti-Oppression Presentation: Identifying and Addressing Mental Health Inequities among LGBTQ+ People: From Structural Drivers to Best Clinical Practices
Briana Shiri Last, PhD

CE Credit Hours: 1.25
In-Person Only

04:45 PM – 05:45 PM CDT

S10 – Annual Update on DBT Research
Melanie S. Harned, PhD, ABPP

CE Credit Hours: 1.00
In-Person Only

05:45 PM – 06:00 PM CDT

DBT-LBC, Awards & Closing Comments

Kim Vay, EdD, LPC will share about Linehan Board of Certification. Dr. Charlie Swenson will then provide an overview of and present this year’s ISITDBT awards. Conference co-chairs Emily & Alison will then share closing comments for the conference day.

06:00 PM – 07:00 PM CDT

Poster Presentations & Cocktails 

There are over 20 excellent posters being presented, alongside cocktail hour. Please come view the posters and meet and mingle with other attendees.

*Cash bar; drinks are not covered by your ticket.

In Person Conference 

As we’re sure folks know, ours is an entirely volunteer-led organization with a board of only 8 people. What has become clear after 3 years of exploring a hybrid conference is that the board was functionally running two separate conferences simultaneously. The amount of labor a hybrid conference requires (both in preparation and managing the day-of logistics for both the in-person and virtual audience) exceeds the capacity of our small volunteer board and was ultimately untenable.

In the spirit of a Dialectical worldview, the board is determined to find a synthesis. In line with our commitment to accessibility for DBT providers and researchers across the globe, this year, we are recording conference content and making it available (with CE credit available) after the conference day. Not only does this option still allow participation for those for whom physical distance created a barrier, this option further increases accessibility for our friends and colleagues who remained unable to participate during a synchronous Hybrid conference due to differences in time zones. It also ensures that they are getting the same value as others, i.e., CE credits they are paying for (To clarify further: in 2022, 2023, and 2024 CE credits were only issued for watching the conference live, not for watching the conference videos on your own time). Although we share disappointment expressed by members of our community about the limitations of asynchronous learning, particularly the loss of being able to ask live questions, we remain open to thoughts about how to replicate that part of the experience as well.

2025 is a year of rebuilding: of the ISIT Board itself, of our policies and procedures, and of our structure as a non-profit, volunteer-led organization. We hope our community knows that we remain steadfastly dedicated to accessibility, and are committed to exploring more sustainable ways in which hybrid and/or asynchronous content can be made available for future conferences. We truly appreciate your patience as we continue to strive to increase the accessibility of our conference as part of the conference mission to help increase the dissemination and implementation of DBT.