Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT): Building Bridges in Public and Global Mental Health

Background: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) was developed for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and has been applied to other mental health problems. Aims: This paper provides a detailed overview of DBT and elucidates the growing body of research utilizing DBT for myriad mental health problems in public and global mental health settings. Method: A PubMed and PsychInfo online database search was undertaken to locate articles regarding Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) applications within the last 10 years. Article exclusion criteria included publication prior to 2001 and an n of less than 15. Since the majority of DBT research thus far has been in individuals meeting criteria for BPD, special attention was paid to articles addressing other mental health diagnoses, settings, and family outcomes. Results: A literature review of twelve key articles (2001-2011) addressed diagnoses such as BPD, BPD comorbid with Eating Disorders (EDs), Binge Eating Disorder (BED), Oppositional-Defiant Disorder (ODD), and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) related to childhood sexual abuse. Articles were from the United States, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands. Conclusions: DBT shows great promise as an intervention in the fields of public and global mental health because of its documented sustained efficacy with various groups, its high treatment retention, its potential for cost-effectiveness, ease in training providers, and transportability.Master of Public Healt