Dialectical behavior therapy: individual therapy

Borderline personality disorder is among the most challenging psychological problems. There are some interventions designed to treat this complex disorder and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy is a cognitive-behavioral program that is receiving an importnat amount of empirical support. This psychological program includes innovative elements with the aim of treating the specific pathological features of borderline personality disorder. DBT includes different modes of therapy, like individual therapy and group therapy. The contents of group therapy are structured in a traditional way using a treatment manual that guides the intervention session by session. However, individual therapy is not manual-based but it is based in certain therapeutic principles that are important to follow to make the intervention work. The aim of this work is to describe DBT individual therapy highlighting the elements that make DBT an innovative and effective program that contributes to improve cognitive-behavioral therapy.