DBT-LBC Certification

In January 2022, I celebrated becoming a DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Certified Clinician. Certification is the gold standard for clinicians providing Dialectical Behavior Therapy, ensuring we’re providing the best quality care possible to our clients. The process is rigorous and involves passing a difficult exam and submitting recordings of sessions for independent review.

On a values level, I pursued certification because my primarily Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) client population deserve to receive the best possible care. For people with marginalized identities whose environments disproportionately punish their behavior, it’s critical that their mental health treatment doesn’t replicate that same cycle of invalidation. During the course of my ten years providing DBT, I’ve encountered too many clients harmed by ineffective treatment from clinicians who were not provided the proper training and supervision to provide this life-saving treatment. Our suicidal clients deserve to build lives worth living and have providers who are trained to help them do just that in a way that is culturally responsive. For me, pursuing certification was about ensuring I’m providing the highest standard of care to these clients.