TREATMENT COMPONENTS

3.2.1.1 COMMITMENT

Both the therapist and client make explicit commitments in the initial sessions of DBT. Often a “hard to get” policy is taken to convince the client that the programme is in fact justified. The new therapeutic endeavour is presented in a realistic way as promising but also demanding. Time spent in commitment is a good investment. If the therapeutic alliance begins to breakdown, time is spent on recommitment. The following agreements are made by both parties, listed in Table 3 and 4.

Table 2: Commitments the patient agrees to make.

Stay in programme for specific amount of time, attending scheduled sessions.

Work on reducing suicidal behaviours and therapy interfering behaviours as a goal of therapy.

Participate in skills training for a specific amount of time.

Table 3: Commitments the therapist agrees to make.

Make every reasonable effort to conduct competent and effective therapy, obeying ethical and professional guidelines.

Be available to a client on a weekly basis and give needed therapy back up.

Maintain confidentiality and obtain consent when needed.

As part of this commitment contract, there is a strict in-built non-attendance rule, that is, if four consecutive sessions of one kind are missed the client is out of therapy.

3.2.1.2 STANCE OF THE INDIVIDUAL THERAPIST

The therapist should aim to interact with the client in the following ways:

a) accepting of the patient in the moment, yet encouraging change of behaviours b) centred and firm, yet flexible when the circumstances require it

c) nurturing yet benevolently demanding

Essentially at all times the individual therapist must remain non-pejorative and open-minded. In order to be working from a DBT model the individual therapist must work from key assumptions including:

a) The patient wants to change and, in spite of appearances, is trying her best at all times.

b) The patient’s behaviour is understandable given her background and present circumstances. The aim is to make the patient’s a life worth living.

c) Although the client may not be entirely to blame for her difficulties, she must take personal responsibility to change them.

d) Client can not fail DBT. If things are not improving it is the therapeutic model that is failing.

3.2.1.3 INDIVIDUAL THERAPY STRUCTURE

During the initial pre-treatment commitment phase the focus is to attain agreement between the client and therapist on the goals of treatment, including reduction of parasuicidal behaviours, therapy interfering behaviours and learning of behavioural skills. If the above targets are not agreed, therapy is abandoned. If it is found at a later stage that the focus of treatment is deviating from the above goals, then the therapist returns to this commitment stage. It is during this stage that much of the foundation work is begun in establishing a durable therapeutic alliance.

Stage one, as shown in Figure 5, focuses on behavioural skill acquisition, and targets life threatening, therapy interfering and quality of life interfering behaviours respectively. The therapist aims to decrease problematic behaviours and substitute these with more adaptive skills taught in the skills group. All barriers to treatment are defined behaviourally, for example ‘client resistance’ would be defined as ‘failed to attend therapy session’, ‘rejects therapist suggestions’ (Swales et al, 2000). The therapist always operates from a target hierarchy in any individual session, concentrating firstly on life threatening behaviours, then therapy interfering behaviours and finally quality of life interfering behaviours.

Figure 5: Hierarchical treatment stages in DBT individual therapy.

Stage two, usually begins in the second year of treatment, and concentrates on dealing with post-traumatic stress, when the client clearly demonstrates that she has the supports and capabilities to cope with the intensity of this stage. During this phase sessions will deal with memories of any traumatic events or objects, and will modify any problematic behaviours subsequently. Stage three of treatment aims to increase client self respect and ability to trust and validate themselves. Work also takes place on client goals during this stage. Stage four of treatment deals with higher level existential difficulties. These latter two stages are in place to develop the individual’s well being, and Linehan believes that this can occur through DBT, another therapeutic model or external to treatment (Swales et al, 2000).

4. Capacity for sustained joy Overcoming a sense of

incompleteness & the development of acapacity for a

sustained joy.

3. Synthesis Promotes a moving on to

an ordinary happiness &

unhappiness

2. Exposure & emotional processing of the past

Improving the experience of the client who has reached the stage of quiet desperation,

having overcome most deliberate self-harm. Focus is on the PTSD response.

1. Stability, Connection & Safety Life threatening behaviours dealt with first, followed by therapy interfering behaviours, quality

of Life interfering behaviours & attention to skills

Pre-therapy – commitment stage

3.2.1.4 SECONDARY TARGETS IN INDIVIDUAL THERAPY

The following secondary targets in individual sessions form three dimensions, each containing its own polarity or dialectical tension, as illustrated in the Figure 6.

Emotional Vulnerability Self-Invalidation

Active passivity Apparent Competence

Unrelenting crises Inhibited grieving

Figure 6: Secondary targets in individual therapy.

The first dialectic is between a biologically driven emotional vulnerability (emotional sensitivity, emotional intensity, and strong negative emotional responding) in clients with BPD and opposed to this a tendency to invalidate their own emotional experiences with accompanying attempts to inhibit emotional experiencing and expression. The second dialectic refers to a tendency to approach life in a passive way and intense reaching out to others to solve problems, while on the opposite pole to this is apparent competence, an illusion of coping with life’s problems when they cannot.

The third dialectic denotes the tension between the behaviours in response to a state of perpetual crisis, and inhibited grieving – restrained expression of extreme and emotional reactions to stressful and traumatic situations. The three dialectics provide a useful framework from which to understand the rapid oscillation from two poles of a continuum. Therapy aims to use inherent tensions to forge a more balanced, flexible, and effective repertoire of coping behaviours (Swales, et al, 2000).

3.2.2 SKILLS TRAINING GROUP

The overall objective of skills training is to learn and refine skills in changing behavioural, emotional and thinking patterns. This is achieved through the teaching of the following eight week skills modules:

 Interpersonal Effectiveness: targeting interpersonal chaos.

 Emotion Regulation: targeting fluctuating intense emotions, problems with anger.

 Distress Tolerance: affecting impulsiveness / self-destructiveness.

 Mindfulness: confusion about self / depersonalisation.

3.2.2.1 DIARY CARDS

The purpose of the diary cards is to decipher whether skills were used and how effectively. Other sections of the diary cards are discussed in Individual Therapy.

Diary cards are a core component of skills training. Practice of skills is vital in learning and change. Diary cards play a role in self monitoring, feedback and reinforcement, which are important in recovery.

3.2.2.2 RULES OF THE SKILLS TRAINING GROUP

Within the Skills Training Group (STG), there is a rule of non-disclosure, physically or verbally, of deliberate self harm. There is also a four consecutive missed session drop out rule.

3.2.3 SKILLS TAUGHT

3.2.3.1 MINDFULNESS MODULE

The overarching objective of this skills module is for all group members to learn to be in control of their mind, instead of their minds being in control of them. Mindfulness is a form of meditation, that has proven effective in chronic stress, pain management and emotional disorders (Brown & Ryan, 2003). Among the skills and concepts learned in mindfulness include “Reasonable mind” (rational thinking, logical mind – I think), “Emotion mind” (emotional, feeling mind, emotions are in control of behaviour and thinking – I feel), and “Wise mind” (Integration of emotion and reasonable mind – I know, knowing in a centred calm way, like intuition). The latter is the preferred state of being and DBT believes that we all have the potential to adopt an effective “Wise mind”, which can be described as a feeling of making the right

choice in a dilemma. “Wise mind” is most likely to prevail when the person is feeing calm and secure.

Further mindfulness skills include the “what” and “how” skills. “What” Skills encompass observing (experiencing without describing or labelling, noticing or attending to something), describing (using words to represent what you observed), and participating (entering wholly into an activity, spontaneous behaviour done mindfully). “How” Skills include being “non-judgmental” and “one-mindful”. “Non-judgement” is described as avoiding all or nothing thinking and distinguishing judgements from facts. “One-mindful” is elucidated as focusing attention on just one thing at a time and becoming fully aware of it.

3.2.3.2 EMOTIONAL REGULATION MODULE

The aims of the emotional regulation module are to understand emotions, reduce emotional vulnerability (increasing positive emotions and decreasing negative emotional vulnerability) and decrease emotional suffering (being mindful-letting go of emotions rather than fighting them/burying them, acting opposite-modulating and changing painful experiences). Hence the focus of this module is not to get rid of emotions but to merely reduce suffering.

Among the work done in this module includes challenging myths about emotions, labelling and describing primary and secondary emotions, understanding the role of interpretation of emotions and the benefits of emotions. Other emotional regulation tasks include reducing negative emotions, increasing positive emotions and abandoning emotional suffering. The emphasis is on not fighting or pushing away emotions - treating it as a wave.

3.2.3.3 INTERPERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS MODULE

The interpersonal effectiveness module focuses on asking for things, making requests and saying no, resisting pressure, and keeping your own values. The module is beneficial to attending to and maintaining relationships, learning to negotiate and compromise in pursuit of a desired objective, building mastery in dealing with people and self respect.

Assertiveness is at the core of the interpersonal effectiveness module. There is also a focus on balancing the pros and cons of interpersonal decision making and being consistent with own beliefs and values. Being effective at an interpersonal level denotes being taken seriously, successfully getting what is desired out of a social interaction, and also maintaining or even improving important relationships. Self respect is also reiterated in this module.

3.2.3.4 DISTRESS TOLERANCE MODULE

The distress tolerance module concentrates on teaching skills for tolerating and accepting crises, and secondly accepting life as it is in the moment. The objectives of these skills are to survive crisis by doing what is most effective, when it cannot be changed right away, without resorting to behaviours, which are going to make things worse.

Four sets of skills are taught in relation to the above objective, namely distracting, self soothing, improving the moment, and finally pros and cons. Useful tasks within this module are breathing, half smiling, radical acceptance, turning the mind (choosing to accept) and being willing (accepting and responding to what is effective and appropriate) as opposed to being wilful. Radical acceptance is viewed as eliminating suffering leaving only pain and in turn reducing the primary pain.

3.2.4 TELEPHONE COACHING

DBT is the only therapy for individuals diagnosed with BPD in which telephone coaching is employed as one of the primary modes of standard treatment. The DBT framework of telephone skills coaching has begun to spread into the treatment of other impulse control disorders, such as the treatment of eating disorders (Wisniewski

& Ben-Porath, 2005). This modality has the following functions: skills coaching and generalisation, immediate crisis intervention decreasing suicidal and self injurious behaviours, teaching adaptive help seeking and repair to threats of the therapeutic alliance. Out of hours telephone coaching fosters appropriate help seeking, rather than establishing a connection between suicidal behaviour and extra attention from the therapist. Based on learning principles, the client is clearly instructed that telephone coaching only takes place prior to any self destructive behaviour, and if the client has

engaged in self injurious behaviour, then any phone contact will not be accepted until 24 hours after the self injury unless the situation is life threatening (Ben-Porath, 2004).

Telephone contact usually lasts no more than twenty minutes. The content of the telephone contact should be entirely directive and skills focused. Therapists must be cautious not to provide supportive listening or nurturance, as this could lead to reluctance to let go of crisis behaviours. Common questions might be “What skills have you used?” and “What obstacles are there to you using your skills?” Hence the therapist is matter of fact and not overly concerned in order to avoid reinforcing passivity in the client. Telephone skills coaching is solution focused and encourages the client to come with their own answer by using skills. Ben-Porath (2004) described the perceived barriers to telephone coaching, including issues of intrusion into personal time, fears of engulfment and fear of inadvertently reinforcing maladaptive behaviours. In a more recent publication, Ben-Porath (2005) introduced a “decision tree model” in order to give guidance to therapists about clarifying the types of phone contact, suggestions on what skills and DBT principles apply in these circumstances, and outline suitable courses of action in each case. Ben-Porath (2005) outlined that phone contact should be divided into calls related to suicidal or self injurious behaviour, skills generalisation calls, therapeutic repair calls, or inappropriate therapy interfering contact.

It is possible that telephone coaching is one of the “active ingredients” responsible for DBT effectiveness. Ben Porath (2004) proposes that it plays an important role in its effectiveness in reducing self-injury. Research that dismantles all the components of DBT is an important step to clarify telephone coaching’s role in treatment, as well as the role of other components.

3.2.5 THERAPIST CONSULTATION

The use of a weekly DBT team consultation makes the model amendable to collaborative endeavours and gives support to all those implementing DBT (Smith &

Peck, 2004). The team meeting can help to prevent and minimise ineffective client-therapist interactions and staff burnout, especially given the typically challenging nature of work and boundary setting needed with clients with BPD. Hence, this

therapeutic component facilitates monitoring of client progress and risk, while simultaneously reducing overall strain of working with such a difficult population. It can also aid staff motivation and adherence to the DBT model (Simpson et al, 1998).

3.3.1 OUTCOME RESEARCH

Initial publications of DBT effectiveness indicated that the therapy successfully lowers attrition rate, parasuicidal episodes and psychiatric inpatient days (Swales, Heard & Williams, 2000). In a controlled randomised one-year study with chronically suicidal BPD patients, Linehan, Armstrong, Suarez, Allmon & Heard (1991) found that 22 individuals randomly assigned to standard outpatient DBT had more positive outcomes that those assigned to outpatient psychotherapists or mental health treatment centres in the community (n=22). Superiority of outcome was demonstrated in a number of outcome domains including a decrement in parasuicidal behaviours, length and frequency of hospitalisation, treatment drop out, and improvements in anger regulation and global and interpersonal functioning (Linehan et al, 1991). Later studies evaluating DBT took sharper account of the unspecific factors in the comparison group and other extraneous variables. Linehan, Heard & Armstrong (1993) demonstrated fewer psychiatric inpatient days and fewer incidences of, and less medically severe, parasuicidal behaviour in the DBT condition compared to the control group. Linehan, Tutek, Heard & Armstrong (1994) highlighted that the DBT condition had significantly better scores on measures of anger, interviewer rated social adjustment and on the Global Assessment Scale, and rated themselves better on overall social adjustment compared to those who received treatment as usual.

Koons, Robins, Tweed, Lynch & Gonzalez (2001) examined the efficacy of DBT in less severely affected women with BPD with 40% reporting a recent history of self injurious behaviour. A briefer version of standardised DBT was delivered. DBT demonstrated superiority in outcomes of hopelessness, depression, anger expression and self injury. A strong trend towards reduced hospitalisations was shown in the DBT condition. Both conditions reported significant reduction in interview rated depression and SCID-II borderline symptoms.