Reducing suicidal behaviour in people with complex needs: Addressing the challenge of implementing dialectical behaviour therapy

Abstract

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based psychological therapy, originally developed for the treatment of people with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder, that specifically focuses on the treatment of suicidal and self-harm behaviours. This paper describes how DBT, uniquely, both treats long-standing factors contributing to suicidal and self-harm behaviour as well as providing an explicit protocol for treating suicidal crises when they arrive. Despite its success in treating suicidal and self-harm behaviours DBT presents some challenges to implementation in routine practice. The paper concludes by outlining these difficulties and how to solve them.