The Founder of DBT: Marsha Linehan
Dr Marsha M Linehan is an American psychologist who developed, researched and reworked DBT throughout her 50 year career. When she first published what was a new treatment in 1993, it was the first time that Western and Eastern psychology had been combined in this way and the philosophy of ‘dialectics’ had been used in modern psychology. This combination of accepting (the essential goodness of people) and changing (helping people to suffer less and enjoy their lives) is a key part of DBT.
It wasn’t until 2011 that Marsha Linehan publicly revealed that her knowledge of the DBT skills was developed much earlier, when as a young woman she was hospitalised for a severe mental illness and needed to develop her own skills to be able to survive severe emotional distress. The memoir she published in 2020 “Building a Life Worth Living” goes in to detail about her early life and how the DBT skills were essential to her. It is a very readable story which has been enjoyed by a number of DBTBrisbane therapists and participants.
Dr Marsha M Linehan’s personal story explains why she has been so dedicated to developing and researching DBT. She has been the therapist and skills trainer for hundreds of clients who have personally benefited from the knowledge and skills that she developed.
In 2018 Time Magazine featured Dr Marsha M Linehan in their Greatest Scientist edition which acknowledged innovators who have made a lasting impact on the world.
Since retiring in 2019, the legacy of Dr Marsha M Linehan continues through the community of DBT therapists and the people whose lives are changed by the work they do in a DBT program. It is also seen in the way that attitudes towards emotionally vulnerable people are being changed and the world better understands what the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder means.