Does it matter if a DBT therapist is not Marsha Linehan certified

[JsMom]

Hello all,
I am searching for a DBT therapist to refer my son to.  He will need evening telehealth appointments as he works full time. My therapist recommends what he refers to as Gold Standard being certified the Marsha Linehan program. So far I'm finding that there are long waiting lists for evening telehealth appointments.  I'm hoping to have a visit with my son this coming weekend and that I have the opportunity to encourage him to get more tools. I'd like to have some referrals to pass on. Have any of you seen your pwbpd find help with DBT therapists who aren't necessarily Marsha Linehan certified?  Thanks for your help.

Our objective is to better understand the struggles our child faces and to learn the skills to improve our relationship and provide a supportive environment and also improve on our own emotional responses, attitudes and effectiveness as a family leaders

[CC43]

Hi there,

My gut reaction to this is that the main driver for your son would be to find a therapist he trusts, and ideally one that's covered by insurance.  If it were up to me, I'd be inclined to recommend a male therapist for him--that's because I have a close friend whose son has some learning and emotional/behavioral challenges, and finding a male therapist he trusted was life-changing for him.

Indeed a therapist with experience and specific training in DBT would be ideal, but I'm not familiar with the exact certification you mention (Linehan).  Maybe your own therapist could provide a referral for you?   I looked at the McLean website, as McLean is widely known for cutting-edge treatment of BPD, and the website doesn't mention the Linehan certification specifically (at least not what I could readily discern).  Nonetheless, here's McLean's brief description of DBT therapy:

"Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, is one of the most common treatment options for certain mental health conditions.  Originally used to address borderline personality disorder (BPD), now DBT is also used to treat depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bulimia, and substance addiction.

DBT can help you or someone you love better manage their emotions, as well as handle life’s ups and downs.

DBT provides patients with mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness skills. These tools help patients manage emotions, cope with difficult situations, and improve relationships."

My adult BPD stepdaughter was treated at McLean after suffering a severe crisis, and DBT was part of the program.  Having said that, McLean used a holistic treatment approach, for example including nutrition, sleep testing, drug testing, magnetic brain stimulation therapy, medication and other general health resources and recommendations.  I guess that since BPD affects all aspects of life, treating someone with BPD might need a team of doctors to get the patient stabilized.  Once stabilization is achieved, then regular therapy/DBT therapy, plus taking any medications as prescribed, was the way to go.

[kells76]

Will you be able to "interview" the T's before recommending any to your son? And is your son OK with you providing this assistance?

Do you think he is in a place where he is stable enough to wait? I.e. would finding someone "good enough" and immediately available be better than a very long wait and seeing nobody in the interim?

I wonder, if you are able to "interview" a few options right away, if you could explain your son's situation and see if they can recommend people with availability that you didn't know about.

Is anyone you're looking at right now part of a bigger practice with other professionals?

[SoVeryConfused]

Hi,

I'm sorry I'm coming late to this. The evidence and data on the success of DBT therapy is based only on certified DBT programs, so if you do have access to one, I would definitely choose that first.

Why? It's intensive. It includes one group skills session per week, one individual therapy session per week, and access 24/7 to the therapist for support in using skills before the loved one takes actions that might be harmful, whether drinking or cutting or suicide attempt, etc.

In addition, the program requires the therapists to meet as a group about their caseload to get support from other therapists, too. That's important because it provides them with care as they manage pretty difficult patients and their actions.

DBT-certified therapy is a gold standard, but if that's not available, I certainly think your child's willingness to do therapy anywhere should be followed up on.

[SoVeryConfused]

P.S. -- If the program follows the structure, noted above, but isn't certified, I would feel totally comfortable with it.