Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder

This chapter elaborates on the multiple integrative aspects of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), an evidenced-based treatment for individuals who meet criteria for borderline personality disorder (BPD). It discusses how behavioral theory, Zen, and dialectics provide the primary principles and describes how the dialectical principles perform various integrating roles throughout the therapy. It also clarifies the construct of traumatic invalidation, a component of the treatment’s biosocial theory. The section on methods describes key therapeutic strategies, including problem-solving and validation. A case example illustrates the dialectical and integrative nature of the treatment. The chapter also reviews the results of randomized controlled trials examining the efficacy of DBT for BPD and identifies the settings, ages, and other clinical disorders for which the treatment also has empirical support.