Description of Dialectical Behavior Therapy Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment developed by Marsha M. Linehan to treat complex, difficult-to-treat mental disorders. Originally, DBT was developed to treat individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD; Carson-Wong, Rizvi, & Steffel, 2013; Scheel, 2000). However, DBT has evolved into a treatment for multi-disorder individuals with BPD. Additionally, DBT has been adapted to treat other behavioral disorders involving emotional dysregulation, such as substance abuse, binge eating, and for settings such as hospitalization and partial hospitalization. Dimeff and Linehan (2001) described five functions involved in comprehensive DBT treatment. The first function performed by DBT is the improvement of behavioral skills. Second, it improves motivation to change by changing inhibitions and reinforcement. Third, it ensures that new capabilities can be generalized to the natural environment. Fourth, DBT structures the treatment environment in essential ways to support the client's and therapist's abilities. Ultimately, DBT improves the therapist's skills and motivation to treat clients effectively. In standard DBT, these functions are divided into treatment modalities (Dimeff & Linehan, Dialectical Behavior Therapy in a Nutshell, 2001). Historical Development/Current Use of Groups Linehan addressed the need for an effective and empirically supported psychotherapeutic treatment for borderline personality disorder. It discovered important deficiencies in standard cognitive and behavioral treatments (CBT) (Chapman & Robins, 2004). DBT was developed to address the difficulties encountered when implementing standard CBT for cron...... middle of paper ......raft, et al. (1999) In a fourth study, Argas, Linehan, and Telch (2001) adapted DBT skills to treat binge eating disorders. Researchers have proposed that the essential problem in binge eating is the underdevelopment and insufficiency of the emotional regulation system. The researchers found that individuals receiving the treatment had significantly lower scores than individuals assigned to the waitlist control group. Additionally, 89% of participants stopped binge eating by the end of treatment. However, six months later, the number of participants who maintained abstinence dropped to 56%. A limitation in this study was the sample size. There was a high attrition rate in both the treatment and waitlist groups. The study began with forty-four participants, but ultimately only ten participants completed the study.