“You’ve got to have the right mind-set, if you really want to change you’ve got to work at it”: Exploring young people’s experiences of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A) in a community Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.

Qualitative research exploring how people experience therapeutic approaches can help researchers to understand more about the processes involved in therapy. This can have implications for clinical practice and help to improve service provision. Recognising views from a wide range of people is important, as it provides a broader and more inclusive understanding. Three papers are presented exploring how both adults and young people experience Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT).

A review of the literature is presented in paper 1. The existing literature exploring the experiences of DBT focused on adult populations. The evidence-base presents a largely positive narrative of DBT, suggesting that skills within this therapy resulted in an improved quality of life. The literature does not represent many views of those who may have disengaged from DBT, the challenges of the approach, or the views of young people.

In response to gaps in the existing literature, paper 2 presents the empirical research that was undertaken exploring young people’s experience of DBT for adolescents (DBT-A) in a child and adolescent mental health service. Eight young people took part in semi-structured interviews that were analysed using Thematic Analysis. Four themes were identified: ‘Taking responsibility’, ‘Change is complicated’, ‘Hard work pays off’, and ‘DBT is tough, but it’s worthwhile’. These themes are discussed in detail. Implications for service development and future research are discussed.

In paper 3, an executive summary of the empirical paper is presented. The summary is aimed at young people and those working within child and adolescent mental health services. It provides a brief background to DBT-A, an overview of the research, and suggestions for services.