LOS ANGELES, June 27, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Evolve Treatment Centers for Teens sent seven clinicians to a five-day Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Foundational Training last month. DBT is a therapeutic modality developed by Dr. Marsha Linehan that treats patients with severe mental health issues involving emotional dysregulation, suicidality or self-harming behaviors. The five-day training was given by Behavioral Tech, the premier Linehan-founded DBT institute. It ran from May 13-17 at Tessie Cleveland Community Service Corporation in Gardena, California. Evolve fully covered the tuition costs for its staff.
“As an organization, we value professional development and are proud to invest in our clinicians’ growth in DBT,” said Michelle Gross, Director of Operations at Evolve. “Thus far, DBT has been very effective with our adolescent population. We wanted our staff to become more fluent in this evidence-based modality in order to root our organization in DBT and have the clinical tools to better serve our clients.”
At the training, Evolve clinicians learned how to implement the four core modules of DBT: emotion regulation, distress tolerance, mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness. The therapists learned how to approach patients nonjudgmentally, assess risk for suicide, and apply problem-solving strategies and crisis protocols. The training was led by Randy Wolbert, LMSW and Janice Kuo, PhD, both Linehan students.
This is the third DBT training to which Evolve has sent staff. In 2017, Evolve clinicians attended a training by the Portland DBT Institute. Evolve also sent nine program directors and its admissions clinician to a Behavioral Tech DBT Intensive Training in October 2018.
Alyson Orcena, LMFT, who attended the 2018 DBT Intensive, is program director at Evolve Vanalden, a fully adherent Comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy Residential Treatment Center. Two of her therapists attended last month’s Foundational training. Now, every member of her clinical team at Evolve Vanalden is DBT-trained.
“It is rare for an adolescent residential treatment center to outsource professional training for so many of its staff, so this is something I was really excited about,” said Orcena. “While my therapists already had DBT exposure under my mentorship, this training strengthened their background. Now, they can better and more confidently utilize DBT to treat our teens.”
At Evolve’s 12 treatment centers across California, adolescents receive evidence-based treatment through a combination of individual and family therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavior Therapy, addiction recovery modalities, and psychiatry. Evolve also incorporates experiential activities such as surfing, equine, yoga, art, music and more.
About Evolve Treatment Centers
Evolve Treatment Centers, accredited by CARF and the Joint Commission, offers the highest caliber of care for teens, 12 to 17 years old, who struggle with substance abuse and/or mental health issues. Evolve offers a full continuum of care, including Intensive Outpatient (IOP), Partial Hospitalization (PHP), and Residential Treatment Centers (RTC).
To learn more, visit http://www.evolvetreatment.com or call (877) 455-7009.