Client Adherence: Beyond Barriers to Effective DBT Therapy

Here are a few take-home messages for this module.

So when we’re talking about treatment adherence, it’s a crucial aspect of treatment efficacy. The more somebody is compliant, the more somebody is adherent to the agreed-upon rules of therapy, to the agreed-upon action plans, to the treatment plan, to the modality, to the commitment, to the relationship. The more they are meaningfully engaged in this process, the higher the efficacy. And that’s really what we’re shooting for. And again, as we target functioning and quality of life, the more adherent somebody is, the higher the probability of getting the desired outcomes are.

Now, there are many barriers to treatment adherence. Our brain working against us, the difficulty of engaging in sustainable change over time, our abilities changing over time, symptom pictures. Sometimes we have challenges to our functioning, our resources can become restricted. And we may need more team members on board if we’re looking at housing, safety. So many different issues that can be immediately impacting the therapeutic environment, but also maybe beyond the scale and scope of the services that we may be providing. So we may need to expand the individual’s team, to get their needs met, to keep them functional in therapy.