DBT Skills Training - Report on the Pilot Implementation

One of the objectives of Goal Four of Connecting for Life is to improve access to effective therapeutic interventions for people vulnerable to suicide. This pilot implementation of Dialectical Behaviour Therapy – Skills Training for Emotional Problem Solving for Adolescents (DBT STEPSA), from the National DBT Project Office, forms part of this objective.

This pilot programme demonstrates how the education system and health service can work in partnership to assist young people in both understanding and managing their mental wellbeing. The initiative gives an appreciation of the challenges faced in implementing new approaches and the need to both adopt and adapt such programmes so they work in an Irish context.