Dialectical Behavior Therapy for At-Risk Adolescents: A Practitioner's Guide to Treating Challenging Behavior Problems by Pat Harvey

by Pat Harvey

Adolescents are more likely than any other age groups to engage in behaviors that contribute to injuries, violence, unintended pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and reckless alcohol, tobacco, and drug use. At-risk adolescents may also exhibit signs of moodiness, aggression, and even self-injury, and these behaviors often cause parents, teachers, and clinicians to become extremely frustrated. Adolescents themselves may even believe that change is impossible.Drawing on proven-effective dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy for At-Risk Adolescents is the first reader-friendly and easily accessible DBT book specifically targeted to mental health professionals treating adolescents who may be dangerous to themselves or others. If you work with adolescents who exhibit at-risk behavior, you know how important it is to take immediate action. However, you may also have trouble “breaking through” the barrier that these young people can build around themselves. This book can help.The DBT skills outlined in this book are evidence-based, and have been clinically proven to help build emotion regulation skills, which are useful for all age groups, though perhaps especially for the millions of at-risk adolescents experiencing depression, anxiety, anger, and the myriad behaviors that can result from these emotions. This book also includes practical handouts and exercises that can be used in individual therapy sessions, skills training groups, school settings, and when working with parents and caregivers.Adolescents stand at the precipice of the future, and the decisions they make now can have life-long impacts. By showing them how to manage their emotions and deal with the stresses that are common in day-to-day life, you are arming them with the tools they will need to succeed and thrive.

Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

ACSW LCSW-C

Reviews

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! It was great for everything you need - from an overview of DBT, to specific interventions in working with adolescents with say, an eating disorder. The language was very readable for an adult, and very developmentally appropriate in working with an adolescent. I definitely recommend it for anyone working with even as young as upper elementary up through high school.

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

DBT is too good. I'm so happy the model is being expanded for applications outside of Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) diagnosed populations.

When you think of other populations that share a lot of (if not all of) the cognitive, affective and behavioral traits with BPD, at risk adolescent populations are an immediate candidate.

It stands to reason that the interventions developed for BPD would be easily translatable to adolescents.

DBT posits emotional dysregulation as the antecedent for much of the populations problematic behaviors (e.g. self harming, substance abuse, oppositional defiant, and conduct disorder spectrum).

DBT focuses on behavioral chain analysis and emotional regulation skills as the primary intervention.

Sounds like a good fit for adolescents right? Simple, structured, and programmatic.

DBT also emphasizes the importance of validation of the clients feelings (not necessarily the behavior) on the part of the clinician. This also just kinda makes sense.

Another exciting aspect of this treatment protocol is the family component. The family receives training concurrent with individual treatment of the adolescent. The family gets essentially the same skills treatment as the adolescent. I can see this as being effective for a variety of reasons.

I currently primarily use Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI) in my work with adult opiate dependent populations.

ACT focusses on values clarification, acceptance of difficult emotions and de-fusion from distorted thinking as a means to empower values congruent action. Mindfulness is employed to accomplish those means. And after some tailoring, I have been able to use ACT with my clients very productively.

However:

After reading this material I can see how effective the DBT approach could be with at risk adolescents. I'm reading it in preparation for my new job working with (you guessed it) at risk adolescent (or transitional aged youth) boys (18-25). After reading this book I feel very empowered to use these interventions.

I'll probably get my ass handed to me at first. It's supposed to be one of the hardest populations to work with. But the structure and simplicity of DBT, Not to mention the no nonsense, industrial strength mood of it, make me feel pretty good about using the approach at my new gig.