t: 0116 241 8331   e: office@apt.ac

FAQs about Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) training.

The Association for Psychological Therapies (APT) is a leading provider of training for professionals working in mental health and related areas, and below are the most frequently asked questions in relation to training in Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT). For general questions relating to DBT click here.

View FAQs

• Can you deliver DBT training ‘onsite’ at our organisation in the British Isles?

  Yes, the majority of our training is provided this way – we come to you and training a group of 6-15 people for a fixed, all-inclusive fee, wherever you are in the British Isles.
  
  

• Can attend I attend this DBT training as an individual?

  Yes, all of our DBT courses are available for individuals to attend 'online live' (via Zoom) or 'online anytime' (self-paced learning).
  
  

• Do you deliver DBT training outside of the British Isles?

  Yes. We are happy to provide our courses anywhere in the world for the standard UK fee plus the cost of one economy class return airfare from the British Isles to the location of the course.
  
  

• Is this DBT training accredited?

  Yes, all of our courses are accredited by the Association for Psychological Therapies (APT). This is given weight by the fact that over 150,000 professionals have attended APT courses. APT accreditation signifies that relevant information is presented in an engaging way, and every course is assessed on these two criteria, with the evaluation returned to the course-sponsor. The two scales (relevance and presentation quality) were obtained by factor-analysing what were previously 17 separate feedback ratings and finding that they all correlated with one or the other of the two crucial dimensions, which seemed to be 'relevance' and 'presentation quality'. If you are interested in whether a course is accredited/recognised by a specific other organisation then you need to ask that organisation. As a matter of policy APT does not seek accreditation from, and can’t speak for, any other body.
  
  

• Do I gain accreditation by attending APT’s training in DBT?

  Yes, upon completing DBT training with the APT you will receive the relevant level of APT-Accreditation. For further details regarding the APT Accreditation system for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT), click here.
  
  

• Do I get a certificate after completing DBT training?

  Yes, a certificate will be emailed to you once we have received your registration. If you have completed an 'online anytime' course, you can download/print-off a certificate following completion of the course.
  
  

• What’s the best phased approach to APT’s DBT training?

  Our suggestion for a phased approach to the training would be as follows: Step one, attend the DBT Essentials course. This will give you APT’s Level 1 accreditation in DBT. Step two, within a month or so, attend the Running DBT Skills Development groups course (which teaches you to convey crucial life skills to patients, usually in groups). This will give you APT’s Level 2 accreditation in DBT. Step three, sit the (free of charge) exam online. This will give you APT’s Level 3 accreditation in DBT. Deliver DBT to your patients, setting up as good a service as you can, for about six months. Then attend the Masterclass (four days). This will give you a chance to address any problems, build on good things that happened, check that you are running good consultation groups and giving telephone support, obtain an expert view on your service, and so on. This will give you APT’s Level 4 accreditation in DBT. Most attendees should be able to reach this level. Any time after that, if you are very committed, to write a (specified) project aimed at obtaining APT's level 5 accreditation in DBT. This is a demanding project and only about half those who submit obtain a pass mark at the first attempt.
  
  

• Do these courses provide supervision? If not, where do we get it from?

  No, it is the service’s responsibility to provide supervision. Where do people get it from? 1. Sometimes from local DBT-knowledgeable professionals (often clinical psychologists) either 1:1 or in groups. 2. other times as ‘peer-supervision’ (often people on the course who arrange properly to meet up – often in groups – to provide this for each other). 3. Also the DBT ‘consult’ is an inbuilt form of (peer) supervision. 4. Also our Masterclass has supervision elements in it, but as it is a once-off can’t rightly be regarded as supervision, except as one component of a package.
  
  

• If I attend APT’s DBT training can I use DBT with the patients I see?

  Yes, we provide ‘post-qualification’ training, i.e. training for people who have a professional qualification. What entitles you to see patients is that professional qualification, and as a mental health professional you are expected to keep up-to-date with developments. This is why people attend APT courses. Having attended a course you are expected to use your professional judgement in applying what you have learned to your own situation. In keeping with that, APT courses aim to give you relevant skills and knowledge you can use in your own workplace.
  
  

• If I attend APT’s DBT training can I say that I am DBT-qualified / am a DBT therapist and put that on my CV?

  If you are a mental health professional and complete the DBT Essentials course, you can rightly add that fact to you CV. You might say something like: I am a clinical psychologist and in 2023 I successfully completed APT’s extended training in DBT. This involved attending 10 days of teaching spread over six months and passing a written exam.
  
  

• Are the British Isles the only organisation that can accredit DBT Training?

  No, anybody can do so, but the question arises as to the worth of the accreditation. Accreditation from the Association for Psychological Therapies (APT) is backed by fact of over 150,000 professionals having attended APT courses, the transparency as to what the different levels of accreditation mean, and the written evaluations testifying to the quality of the training provided.
  
  

DBT training for mental health professionals.

The Association for Psychological Therapies (APT) is a leading provider of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) training in the UK and Ireland and offers accreditation and courses in this area for mental health professionals to attend.

Find out more