Change is the Only Constant in Life: New Board Members and Officers Elected to DBT-LBC™
Hello all,
The Only Thing Constant in Life, is Change and Join us in Welcoming our Changes to the Board Of Directors at DBT-LBC™
As we all know, change is the only constant in life, and that change can be both exciting and scary. I want to share some changes that have occurred within DBT-LBC Board of Directors as we are moving rapidly through 2022. While there is a dialectic within change that can make it both scary and exciting, the change I am going to talk about within DBT-LBC™ falls on the exciting side of that dialectic.
First, I want to recognize Dr. Suzanne Witterholt, MD. Suzanne has been a key player in DBT-LBC™ since inception. Don’t worry, she isn’t going anywhere; however, she has stepped down from the Vice President position at DBT-LBC. She will remain a member-at-large on the Board of Directors. Words cannot express the support that she has personally provided me as I transitioned into the presidency role back in 2020, so I will not try and come up with the words that will only marginally represent her level of support, THANK YOU SUZANNE. I am excited to announce that Dan Finnegan from Cadence – Child & Adolescent Therapy has been elected the Vice President of DBT-LBC™. Dan’s expertise in both the delivering of DBT and his knowledge of the research supporting DBT has been invaluable to DBT-LBC™, and we are excited to have him in the role of Vice President. Congratulations and thank you for all you do, Dan!
With Dan moving into the Vice President position, it left open the Treasury position and I am pleased to announce that Chris Kallas, our public member on the Board has been elected to the Treasury position. Chris not only brings a perspective from the public lens, she also brings experience from a legal perspective as she is an attorney in New York.
Thank you for all you do, Chris. Your perspective, insight, and passion are invaluable to not only DBT-LBC but to the entire DBT community.
As many of you probably have read some of Chris’ newsletter articles, she has a passion for DBT that has a personal connection which she shares below.
As the parent of an adult child with a primary diagnosis of BPD, I spent years trying to understand this disorder. However, my child was very clear from early on. Having done her research, she informed us that DBT was the treatment that “would save her life”.
Once we became involved with NEA BPD it was clear why she said that. And it became clear that DBT was helping to save our family as well.
It was also clear that not everyone who “did DBT” really did DBT in an adherent manner. So when the opportunity to serve on the DBT-LBC Board as the Public Member was presented to me, I decided that I would take the leap. As family members, it took us a while to find a therapist who understood BPD. It also became very clear that DBT practitioners were far more understanding and validating of the concerns of family members, which was helpful to the entire family, than your ‘average’ clinician. I wanted to help family members find effective treatment for their person with BPD, and certification is the gold standard for clinicians who treat this disorder. I also wanted to be able to weigh in on certification questions from the perspective of those family members.
Serving on the DBT-LBC Board has given me an opportunity to do just that, for which I am very grateful.
Join us in Welcoming our Newest Board Member, Dr. Erica Tan
In addition to some of the changes within the current board of directors, we have elected 1 new member to the Board. Please join me in congratulating Dr. Erica Tan from Portland DBT Institute to the DBT-LBC Board of Directors as a Member-at-Large.
We are honored to have Dr. Tan join us and share not only her energy and enthusiasm but her wisdom, knowledge, and expertise with us so that we can continue to grow and improve. Welcome aboard Dr. Tan!
Below she talks about her experience with DBT-LBC and certification.
It’s an honor to be a part of the DBT-LBC Board of Directors. I had started volunteering just last year when a friend asked if I would co-chair the DBT-LBC Diversity board meeting with Kim Skerven, PhD, and I thought it would be a fun experience! Since then, I’ve attended a few meetings with social media, the Equity/Diversity committee, and the larger meeting for volunteers and I appreciate the passion about DBT everyone has.
For me, a personal goal is to help diversify and increase representation of marginalized and underrepresented folx in the DBT community at large and in DBT-LBC. DBT-LBC certification was very personally meaningful for me as I felt I had “stagnated” as a DBT clinician and the preparation for certification brought me back to the basics and helped me to become more incisive and intentional with stylistic strategies and commitment to the treatment. I feel I am providing this life changing treatment much more effectively now and it has helped to increase my passion for working with our clients even more!
Please join me in welcoming the changes to the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Board of Directors.
With gratitude and thanks to each one of you that remain at the heart of DBT-LBC™. Your generosity and support have been insurmountable to our growth and success. We are continuing to work to improve so please be on the lookout for updates and future live webinars.
“Success is a Journey, not a Destination” and we are on a constant journey to continue to keep Marsha’s legacy alive. Change is the only constant in life, and we are choosing to embrace that change with welcome arms and look forward to what the future holds.
With love to all,
Dr. Kimberly Vay
President, DBT-Linehan Board of Certification™
