Cultural Considerations in DBT

May 8, 2023 at 2 PM ET

Learn more and register online

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy recommended by the VA and Department of Defense (DoD) joint clinical practice guidelines for the treatment and management of suicidality to treat borderline personality disorder (BPD) and self-directed violence. DBT training has not yet been rolled out nationally to VA facilities, though VA mental health providers have identified it as a high priority for future training needs. Adaptations of DBT and other interventions to the culturally diverse needs of the patient population are known to improve treatment engagement and effectiveness. This webinar will review the existing literature on cultural considerations in DBT and provide clinical recommendations designed to improve clinician cultural competency and clinical outcomes in a diverse patient population.

Following this live lecture, participants will be able to:

1. Identify the patient populations with whom DBT has been shown to be effective.
2. Describe the Biosocial Theory of BPD.
3. Describe the existing literature on cultural adaptations to DBT.
4. Recommend cultural adaptations to DBT implementation.

PRESENTER INFORMATION

Meredith Sears, Ph.D.

Meredith Sears, Ph.D., is a Suicide Prevention Coordinator at the San Francisco VA; a consultant for the national dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) training roll-out in VA’s Suicide Prevention 2.0 program; a Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco; and the president of the Greater San Francisco Bay Area chapter board of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. From 2016 to 2023, Dr. Sears also served as the co-lead and training coordinator of the San Francisco VA DBT program.