The observation of essential clinical strategies during an individual session of dialectical behavior therapy

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT; Linehan, 1993) is a comprehensive and principle-based cognitive-behavioral intervention initially developed for the treatment of suicidal behavior and later expanded to the treatment of borderline personality disorder and additional psychiatric disorders associated with emotion dysregulation. As a comprehensive treatment, DBT consists of multiple modalities of intervention that include individual therapy, skills training, telephone consultation, team consultation, and the structuring of ancillary treatments. In the present article, we review three essential strategies expected to occur during an individual session of DBT. The three strategies reviewed include structuring the content of the session, core strategies of problem solving and validation, and dialectical strategies and worldview. Associated research data and clinical examples are provided for each strategy.