Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Initiative

The Vancouver Division of Family Practice offers comprehensive Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) resources and innovative training programs to elevate patient care, support healthcare providers, and improve practice environments.

With funding from Shared Care, we provided capacity-building opportunities through individual and cohort-based learning programs. These programs equipped 1006 primary care providers with evidence-based tools to effectively manage Affective Instability, ensuring better outcomes in primary care settings.

If you missed any of these opportunities, please click here to access recorded videos on DBT in primary care:

• Introduction to Dialectical Behavior Therapy
• Validating Emotionally Dysregulated Patients
• Crisis Survival Strategies for Self-Harming Patients
• Emotion Regulation Strategies in DBT
• Managing Borderline Personality Disorder in Primary Care
• Mental Health Certification
• Bridging Research Practice Divide: The Evolving Landscape of Personality Disorder Treatment and Its impact on Patient Care

~ Training Material Development and Feasibility Testing of Emotion Regulation Group in Primary Care ~

We’re in the process of developing training materials to support primary care providers in facilitating group medical visits. At the same time, we’re exploring the feasibility of offering a DBT-informed Group Medical Visit model for this patient population within primary care settings.

Interested in participating or learning more?

Sign up here for the Group Medical Visit pilot, or reach out to Abisola Olapeju at aolapeju@vancouverdivision.com

DBT resources and supports for clinicians and patients

• If you have a patient facing mental health or suicidal thoughts, see poster for a helpful resource: Help is Here for Your Patients – Poster 
• Looking for a brief one-page summary of recommendations for managing distress in your patients. See here: Crisis Survival Skills – Handout
• Stay Skillful with the DBT Cheat Sheet pulling together all the DBT skills into a one pager. See here
• If you are looking for DBT supports in Vancouver, see here for a list of curated supports in the city.
• CBT/DBT Decision Tree

This initiative is in support of the Division’s Mental Health strategy to support the mental health management in primary care.