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AdamJ

Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT)

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I'm on a waiting list to receive DBT through my local NHS mental health service. In the meantime, I'm signed off work with depression and acute anxiety. My employers are aware that I'm awaiting DBT and as far as they're concerned, I won't be fit to return to work until some time after my DBT begins. My employers appointed an independent occupational health specialist to assess my fitness to work and that is the conclusion they gave to my employers in December.

 

Here is my problem. Nobody seems able to give me even a rough idea of when I might begin receiving DBT. And the longer my absence from work continues, the more I worry about job security.

 

To avoid the waiting list, I've looked into getting DBT privately but I'm struggling to find any local, private DBT services. The MIND website says there is no formal association for DBT practitioners, making it even harder to find a practitioner with credentials. Also, I understand that part of the DBT approach is to have group therapy sessions. It seems to me that this would be practically impossible for a private practitioner to facilitate.

 

I know DBT isn't very common but if there is anyone here who has experienced it, whether through the NHS or privately, I'd be very grateful to hear any views about it. At the moment, I don't know whether I should (1) keep my employer waiting, or (2) put myself in the hands of a private practitioner with unknown credentials, or (3) forget the whole DBT thing and instead tell all parties concerned that I'm fit to return to work immediately.

 

Thanks.

 

Adam

Edited by AdamJ

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Do you believe you are well enough to work at the moment?

 

I had DBT quite a few years ago now and although it was in a group, all the things we did could have been done 1:1. We didn't talk about ourselves very much in the group, it was very much about being taught coping skills. I think if you could find a private DBT therapist you could well benefit from 1:1 sessions as much as group ones.

 

There might not be an organisation specifically for DBT therapists, but there is the BACP who accredit therapists and counsellors generally. They may be able to give you contact details of someone who can use DBT techniques with you. If you can talk your issues through with a therapist, they may also be able to suggest a different approach that might help instead.

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Do you believe you are well enough to work at the moment?

 

I had DBT quite a few years ago now and although it was in a group, all the things we did could have been done 1:1. We didn't talk about ourselves very much in the group, it was very much about being taught coping skills. I think if you could find a private DBT therapist you could well benefit from 1:1 sessions as much as group ones.

 

There might not be an organisation specifically for DBT therapists, but there is the BACP who accredit therapists and counsellors generally. They may be able to give you contact details of someone who can use DBT techniques with you. If you can talk your issues through with a therapist, they may also be able to suggest a different approach that might help instead.

 

Thanks, Tally, that's useful to know.

 

Whether I'm ready to return to work is a difficult question. Since being put on sick leave, I haven't been exposed to the kind of situation that brought on my anxiety attacks, so I've been feeling quite normal for a few months now. However, in those few months I haven't received any therapy or treatment so I can't point to anything that might have helped to strengthen my coping mechanisms. This fact is as apparent to my employers as it is to me so, regardless of my own feelings about it, my employers probably wouldn't allow me back until they have something concrete to show that I'm more robust now. That something is evidence of a course of DBT or at least the beginnings of a course of DBT, because that's what they've been given to expect.

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DBT can be used for complex Post traumatic Stress Disorder or Borderline Personality Disorder/Emotional Unstable Personality Disorder.

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