DBT for the Family?
An article on DBT training for family members of borderlines:
Individual DBT has addressed the problems of the individual’s emotional vulnerability (high sensitivity, high reactivity, slow return to baseline) component by intervening directly with the individual patient. Although interventions with family members are briefly noted in the original treatment manual, standard DBT does not directly attempt to affect the second component of the etiological model for BPD and related disorders, namely, that of the invalidating environment. There are several levels of adapting DBT that are possible. First, one could simply apply DBT essentially intact to new populations (for example, to battering men; Fruzzetti, Rubio, & Thorp, 1998). Or, one could use the existing treatment to augment outcomes with borderline clients (like teaching the original DBT skills to family members or partners of borderline clients; Fruzzetti, Hoffman, & Linehan, in press). Finally, one could also develop new interventions (skill modules and/or treatment strategies), consistent with the transactional model, to intervene specifically at the level of the environment (say, a family or a residential center; Fruzzetti et al., in press). All three of these approaches have been initiated and are presently being evaluated.
