Volume 18, No. 2, 2021
Cultural Adaptation Of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy For The Local Context: A Qualitative Study From South Asia
Dr. Mirrat Gul Butt , Prof. Dr. Zahid Mahmood and Prof. Dr. Farooq Naeem
Abstract
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is a comprehensive treatment program for individuals meeting the criteria for Borderline Personality Disorder/ emotionally unstable people. The aim of this study was to understand the views and experiences of clinical psychologists and clinical psychology students about DBT and its implementation with patients diagnosed with Borderline personality traits and to develop guidelines for culturally adapting DBT concepts and skills for borderline personality traits in Pakistan. Expert and in training therapists were recruited and semi-structured interviews were conducted with clinical psychologists (n= 9) from Islamabad, Peshawar, Lahore, Faisalabad, Karachi, and Multan. All psychologists had experience of working with patients diagnosed with Borderline personality disorder. Two focus groups were conducted with eight university students of MS clinical psychology (final year) who had seen at least two patients diagnosed with BPD. Moreover, feedback was also gathered from participants regarding the acceptable translation of terminology. Data were analyzed using thematic content analysis. The results highlighted the need to culturally adapt DBT. The participants also made useful suggestions to improve the translation and adaptation of the DBT guidelines. The participants also suggested the need to exclude certain activities from the therapy manual, which were not culturally relevant while adding more mindfulness techniques.
Pages: 2205-2217
Keywords: This article will enable readers to: Understand the importance of adapting Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Borderline Personality traits and disorder. Gain insigh