Four Phases of Treatment in TF-DBT
United States Department of Homeland Security
Key Points
- DBT has four phases.
- The first phase consists of teaching clients skills to bring basic stability and reduce crisis orientation.
- No trauma work should take place while the client is in crisis.
- The second phase consists of stabilizing their emotions.
- The third phase consists of generalizing their skills to other aspects of their lives.
- The fourth phase consists of building a life consistent with their goals and values.
- ‘Stage’ tends to imply a concrete, tightly defined, and linear sequence of events.
- ‘Phase’ implies a series of events that are less defined or more open-ended.
- The purpose of the phase model is to have a sense of where a client is at in their treatment, so the clinician knows how to proceed.
Materials Downloads
Transcript
Welcome to the seventh video in this module. So far in this module, we have learned how to provide TF-DBT using individual sessions, group sessions, and even between session support. We've also learned how to prioritize when clients present with competing needs or multiple crises at the same time. Now, Not surprisingly, all clients learn skills and process trauma at their own pace. So how do we know where a client is at in their treatment? Well, that is precisely what we will learn in this video. So, let’s get started. Okay.
So, so far, We’ve already learned that DBT has four different components. Remember, individual sessions, group sessions, between-session support, consultation team. DBT also has four different priorities. Remember that’s what we talked about in the previous video. Well, as it turns out, DBT also has four general phases of treatment. and I use that word phase on purpose instead of stage and maybe we'll talk a little bit more about that later in the video. Regardless,
Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.,Reutter, K., & DePasquale, D. (2019). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook for PTSD: Practical exercises for overcoming trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (1st ed.). New Harbinger Publications.
The first phase refers to basic crisis stabilization, right? You certainly can’t do too much trauma work when a client is still in active crisis. The second phase is to continue skills work to now work on stabilizing emotions, right? You can’t really stabilize emotions if a client is still in active crisis. And then The third phase is general stabilization, right? So once a client has learned to stabilize their emotions, now they’re in a better place to continue applying their skills so that they can stabilize other areas and other aspects of their life too. And then finally, the fourth phase is building a life worth living.
Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.,Reutter, K., & DePasquale, D. (2019). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook for PTSD: Practical exercises for overcoming trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (1st ed.). New Harbinger Publications.
