What is DBT-A (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents)?

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT-A) for adolescents is a structured, evidence-based treatment designed to help young people manage intense emotions, reduce risk related behaviours (e.g., self-harm), and improve relationships. The therapy combines cognitive-behavioural techniques with mindfulness and acceptance strategies to help young people and their support network build skills in:

  • Mindfulness: to learn how to connect with yourself and the present moment. To aid in focusing on the here and now. Mindfulness increases your ability to notice emotions and how to respond to them effectively versus just reacting.
  • Distress tolerance: to learn how to manage intense emotions and bring down the intensity without making a situation worse in the short or long term.
  • Emotion regulation: to learn how to relate to your emotions in a healthy way through understanding your emotions and what functions they serve. Learning strategies to change emotional states in an effective way.  
  • Interpersonal effectiveness: to learn how to communicate effectively across relationships to make it more likely to get your needs met and communicate more accurately how you are feeling to yourself and others.
  • Dialectics (walking the middle path): to increase flexibility in the way you think, that leads to more a balanced perspective versus ‘all or nothing’ thinking.

By learning these skills, young people can develop healthier coping strategies, improve relationship with self and others, make more balanced decisions, and improve their overall well-being to build a life worth living.

Service description

The NELFT DBT-A program offers a comprehensive, family-based treatment for young people aged 13 to 17 years and 4 months with a registered GP in Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge, Havering, and Waltham Forest.

Our team consists of experienced clinicians and therapists who work with young people and their families in a supportive, collaborative environment. DBT-A service offers the following:

  1. Assessment:
    The initial meeting includes an assessment of the young person’s background, difficulties, and a discussion with the young person and their parents/carers. We will meet with the young person and their parent/carer(s) together. The young person will then meet with a therapist separately and the parent/carer(s) will meet with another therapist. The assessment will help in figuring out if DBT is the most appropriate treatment and if the young person and their parent/carer(s) want to participate in this treatment.
  2. Pre-treatment:
    If the young person is eligible and committed to engaging in treatment program, they will participate in 4-6 weeks of individual sessions to orient them and their parent/carer(s) to the DBT-A service. These sessions allow the young person and their parent/carer(s) to fully understand what the DBT-A program will involve and this is a ‘trial’ period to help the young person and their parent/carer(s) make a fully informed decision about this therapy.
  3. Treatment:
    Following pre-treatment, the full 8-month treatment program includes:
  • Weekly individual therapy: young people will meet weekly with their allocated therapist to take the skills they are learning in group and apply it to their lives. They will work collaboratively on building the young person’s life worth living. Parent/carer(s) will also be assigned a separate allocated therapist to meet with as needed.
  • Weekly multi-family skills training group: the young person and their parent/carer(s) will learn skills to help them learn how to manage their emotions through the five areas mentioned above.
  • Phone coaching support: the young person and their parent/carer(s) will have access to call their allocated therapists to support them in using their DBT skills before they engage in unhelpful coping strategies.
  • Family work and parent/carer sessions as required: the young person and their parent/carer(s) will engage in family sessions as needed to improve family communication.

Who is the service for?

The NELFT DBT-A service is available to:

  • Young people ages 13-17 years and 4 months (to allow for 8 months of treatment before 18).
  • Young people who live in the boroughs of Barking & Dagenham, Redbridge, Havering and Waltham Forest.
  • Young people of all gender identities and of any ethnic group are welcome, with specific aims to ensure that minority backgrounds have equal access to the service.
  • Self-harm or high-risk behaviours (2+ incidents in the last 6 months).
  • Emotional dysregulation and difficulty managing relationships.
  • Presenting with symptoms of Emotionally Unstable Personality Disorder (EUPD), including:
    • Intense fear of abandonment
    • Unstable and intense relationships
    • Identity disturbance or confusion
    • Impulsive behaviours (e.g., substance abuse, risky behaviours)
    • Suicidal or self-harming behaviours
    • Mood swings and emotional instability
    • Chronic feelings of emptiness
    • Poor anger control and occasional dissociation in response to stress.

Service location and hours

The DBT-A program is part of the community mental health services across the local boroughs, shown below:

  • Barking & Dagenham Site: Child Development Centre, Axe Street, Barking, IG11 7LZ
  • Havering Site: Acorn Centre, 306 London Road, Romford, RM7 9NH
  • Redbridge Site: The Grove Child Development Centre, Grove Road, Romford, RM6 4XH
  • Waltham Forest: Wood Street Health Centre: 6 Linford Road, London, E17 3LA

The service is open from 9am-5pm Monday-Friday