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Letter from the President’s Desk – March 2020

Wow. It’s hard to believe DBT-LBC has been in operation for over 5 years now. One of our Policies and Procedures states that we will review our certification process every 5 years. We’ve spent about 12 months of intense examination doing so, consulted with other organizations offering certification and also with two organizations that do…
Kimberly
March 7, 2020
Blogs

Letter from the Old President’s Desk

Well former president, anyway. I thought I’d share why DBT, DBT-LBC and working as a Board member has made my career as a psychologist a true “life worth living.” I hope it encourages you too. After I graduated with my Ph.D. in 1985, I started a private practice in Brookfield WI. I didn’t intend to…
Joan Russo
March 1, 2020
Blogs

The parent of a child who is ill feels pain

Thoughts from our Public Member - Chris Kallas The parent of a child who is ill feels pain. The parent of a child who is mentally ill feels pain, along with a whole host of other emotions: fear, anger, and lots of frustration: at the inability of the doctors to ‘cure’, at the coldness of…
Chris Kallas
February 8, 2020
Blogs

Spotlight: Mary Ihnenfeld

Mary Ihnenfeld, MSW, LCSW Certified Clinician Family Counseling Service, Aurora , IL "I completed the 10-day intensive DBT training in 1998. I worked for a community mental health agency that was a referral source for the state hospital. In 1997, the State of Illinois brought out the Linehan Training Group (now Behavioral Tech) to train…
Kimberly
January 8, 2020
Blogs

In Memoriam – Dr. Perry Hoffman

We learned the tremendously sad news that Dr. Perry Hoffman, co-creator of Family Connections™ and founder of NEABPD, died peacefully at home on November 3rd. We know that this news may come as a shock to many of you. Perry became ill very suddenly five weeks ago with a rapidly debilitating disease. At the onset…
Joan Russo
December 8, 2019
Blogs

Spotlight: Dr. Alex Chapman, PhD,

Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych., a DBT_ LBC Certified Clinician, is the President of the DBT Centre of Vancouver, as well as the director of the Personality and Emotion Research Laboratory at Simon Fraser University, where he studies the role of emotion regulation in BPD, self-harm, impulsivity, and other behavioral problems. A DBT Trainer and…
Kimberly
December 8, 2019
man in long-sleeved shirtBlogs

A mental health professional is like the conductor.

Thoughts from our Public Member - Chris Kallas I remember taking a music class in seventh grade. We learned to read music, and some of the highlights of the history of music. I enjoyed it thoroughly. But with all the other things I was studying, I didn’t study it again. Then about 10 years ago…
Chris Kallas
October 10, 2019
Blogs

Spotlight: Dr. Jennifer Sayrs

Jennifer Sayrs, PhD., a DBT – LBC Certified Clinician, is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Evidence Based Treatment Center of Seattle (EBTCS). As part of her role there, she serves as the director of the DBT Center, which is one of the first DBT programs in the nation to be certified by the…
Kimberly
September 22, 2019
Blogs

Why Certification?

Newsletter column by Public Member of the DBT LBC Board, Chris Kallas When someone you love has a mental illness, or even emotional difficulties, you don’t think, “Where can I find someone to help him who has a PhD in clinical psychology, who has at least five years of experience in treating someone with this…
Chris Kallas
August 10, 2019
Blogs

Dr Marsha Linehan awarded Emeritus status

With her retirement last month, Dr. Marsha Linehan has been awarded the title of Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Washington, and Director Emeritus of the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics. Please join us in congratulating her on this honor as she enters the next chapter of a life worth living.
Joan Russo
June 13, 2019
Blogs

Reality Check by Juliet Nelson

If Alec Miller challenges you to begin the DBT program certification process together and months pass and you still don’t get going, you might ask yourself, WTF? Why not? Beware, this is not a tale of overcoming obstacles, rising to the occasion and finally accomplishing that goal. This is the tale of a new and…
Joan Russo
June 13, 2019
Blogs

May is BPD Awareness Month

Thoughts from our Public Member - Chris Kallas May is BPD Awareness Month. Thanks largely to the efforts of NEA BPD, on April 1, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 1005, which recognized the month of May as Borderline Personality Disorder Awareness Month. The vote was 414-0. (Nope, not a typo; even…
Chris Kallas
April 28, 2019
Blogs

Spotlight: Emily Vanderpool M.S., LPC

Everyone has their own path that led them to become a DBT-LBC clinician. For me, it all started with autism. I grew up with a brother who was diagnosed with high functioning autism, and I witnessed first-hand the emotional difficulties that individuals with these diagnoses face as they navigate life in a neuro-typical world. Thus,…
Joan Russo
March 16, 2019
Blogs

My Path Toward Certification – Courtney Westin, LMFT

Courtney Westin LMFT, first began practicing DBT in 2013, when she moved to California with her husband. Before that, Courtney ran her own practice for four years in Bethesda, Maryland, with a focus on clients with eating disorders. She began practicing DBT for four years working with the DBT Center of Orange County. In 2017,…
Joan Russo
March 7, 2019
Blogs

Spotlight: Lisa Fitzgibbons

PhD, ABPP - Certified Clinician "My initial interest in DBT was sparked when I completed an internship rotation on inpatient borderline personality disorder unit for women in 1999. The unit did not use DBT; however, I really enjoyed the women on the unit and as a result read Linehan’s groundbreaking text. Who knew I would…
Kimberly
January 8, 2019
Blogs

Clinical trial shows dialectical behavior therapy effectiveness in reducing risk in suicidal adolescents.

Adapted from • Science Update, June 27, 2018 Researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle Children’s Research Institute, and collaborators at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor- University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center, and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have published findings from a year’s long RTC showing…
Joan Russo
June 28, 2018