Imagine being a child or an adolescent struggling to manage your negative behavior, extreme emotions, contentious relationships and thoughts of self-harm — all while trying to navigate an environment of stress and uncertainty.

Dialectical behavior therapy, or DBT, has proved to be particularly helpful for youth struggling with severe mental health and behavior challenges. DBT is designed to teach individuals the skills to cope with and change unhealthy behaviors. UF Health offers this evidence-based intervention at UF Health Psychiatry – San Jose, led by Allison Ventura, PhD, a psychologist and assistant professor of psychiatry.

The DBT-Linehan Board of Certification is currently the only DBT-certification program in the U.S. that is endorsed by Dr. Marsha Linehan, the scientist and founder of DBT. Ventura is one of eight clinicians in the state of Florida who have earned this national board certification.

Ventura collaborates with Deanna Seymour, APRN, DNP, an intensively trained DBT provider, on offering DBT individual therapy and skills group sessions. The typical patient is age 14 or older.

“Through DBT, we balance the validation and acceptance of change, reduce risk and help teens create a life worth living,” Ventura said.

DBT is a comprehensive program with four components: individual therapy, group skills training, phone coaching and DBT team consultation for providers. The DBT team collaborates on treating the patients and the clinicians serve as a support system for one other. Not one component can be used independently, as each one focuses on elements of DBT.

“This is the first therapy with four modalities for dysregulated individuals. Patients attend weekly individual and group sessions, and we provide phone coaching calls between appointments to help decrease crisis,” Ventura said. “Family support is important, as patients must commit to one year of DBT. We offer a family orientation, where all participants commit to the strategy upfront. Parents are relieved to know that we are beside them when their child is going through a crisis.”

DBT patients can attend school and participate in extracurricular activities while receiving outpatient treatment. This provides children with normalcy and lessens anxiety about the stigma associated with hospitalization.

“DBT decreases patient hospitalization, self-harm and stabilizes them. When they’re not in school, children may perform poorly, resulting in them becoming more depressed,” Ventura said.

In Jacksonville, DBT is in high demand, with a waiting list of patients in need of treatment. To help meet the demand, Ventura’s goal is to educate clinicians on providing DBT. She encourages mental health professionals to become more informed and trained in the DBT model.

“Certification is both rewarding and rigorous and takes several years. I was supervised by a certified clinician for more than a year, earned 40 hours of DBT intensive clinical coursework, attended mindfulness training, took a written exam, wrote a patient case conceptualization and recorded patient sessions for fidelity. The certification helps clinicians provide high-quality care to children and families,” Ventura said.

DBT and the providers offering this unique approach to therapy are changing lives, helping children and young adults to cope and live in the moment, and for longer, in an ever-changing world.