DBT Assumptions - Are beliefs— about the Client, the Therapist, and Treatment (Linehan, 2015).

Are beliefs— about the Client, the Therapist, and Treatment (Linehan, 2015).

The client is doing the best they can and wants to improve

Clients need to do better, try harder, and be motivated to change

They may have not have caused all their problems but they need to solve them anyway.

The lives of suicidal borderline individuals are unbearable

Every day.

Clients must learn new behaviors in all relevant contexts and they cannot fail in therapy

If the client has come to therapy and tried—and the therapy is ineffective—then it may not be the right therapeutic approach, but the client has not failed!

Therapists need support

DBT is demanding and requires an empathic and genuinely understanding therapeutic relationship which may be quite challenging when treating chronically suicidal or self-harming individuals.