Shaping the Future of DBT-LBC™ Through Collective Wisdom
Some of the most important work we do begins with a willingness to come together, ask difficult questions, and listen to perspectives beyond our own.
That is what guided our 9th Annual Leadership, Strategies & Future Directions Meeting on October 16, 2026. Our annual meeting brings volunteers together around a shared responsibility: helping individuals and families seeking DBT find the care they deserve and so desperately need.
As President, I am reminded that the strength of this organization comes from the people who contribute to it. Our volunteers bring clinical experience, research knowledge, cultural perspectives, and a deep commitment to DBT and the people who need it. Together, these perspectives help us recognize what we may be missing and make more thoughtful decisions about our future.
Making Room for Questions That Matter
This year, we considered how to strengthen the pathway to clinician certification, expand access internationally, and approach certification for programs delivering DBT in higher levels of care.
These discussions ask us to hold several priorities at once: expanding access while protecting standards, recognizing differences across countries and settings, and supporting innovation while remaining clear about the evidence.
Working through these questions takes curiosity and a willingness to reconsider our assumptions. A requirement that seems straightforward to one person may create a significant barrier for another. Hearing those perspectives helps us think more carefully about what is necessary and where we have room to make changes.
Collective Wisdom Requires Participation
Collective wisdom develops when we are willing to embrace the dialectic and allow another person’s experience to influence our thinking. Our volunteers give their time and expertise because they care about this work. Their contributions connect our decisions to the realities of clinical practice and the communities we serve.
Diversity and inclusion are essential to this process. Whose experiences inform our decisions? Whose perspectives are missing? What barriers might we overlook because we have not encountered them ourselves?
These are questions we need to keep asking as we take recommendations from the meeting and determine our next steps.
A Community With a Shared Purpose
Behind every discussion about certification is someone seeking effective treatment: a client working to build a life worth living, a family looking for help, or a clinician committed to providing the best care they can.
That shared purpose gives our work direction.
To our board members, committee members, workgroup leaders, and volunteers: thank you for sharing your experience, your questions, and your care for this work. As we look toward our 10th annual meeting, I am grateful to be part of a community willing to learn from one another and put that collective wisdom into practice.
