Humber Dialetical Behaviour Therapy

Humber DBT provides Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) to individuals in Hull and the East Riding; DBT is a therapy approach for people whose main priority in treatment is to reduce self-harm and suicidal behaviour.

The Team

Humber DBT aim to support individuals to reduce the frequency of life-threatening behaviour, in particular self-harm and suicidal behaviour, and to develop a life that the individual feels motivated to remain alive for, whatever that looks like for them. We often work with individuals who experience emotion dysregulation, when emotions feel extremely strong, are prompted very easily and quickly, and can lead to various difficulties for the person in their life.

The team provide direct treatment to individuals for whom self-harm and suicidal behaviour are a primary issue, in the form of group intervention, skills coaching between sessions, and individual appointments where required. We also have a weekly team consultation meeting for our therapists and skills trainers, and thus our service provides what is considered a comprehensive DBT service. The team also provide supervision and consultation to other professionals to support the incorporation of DBT principles into their work with people who could benefit from this but do not meet the service criteria for referral for direct treatment with Humber DBT. We also provide training to Trust staff, and partner providers on request, and are open to providing training to other organisations.

We also run a graduate group and graduate email address for individuals who successfully complete their work with the team, so that they can continue to receive support in applying DBT in their life, even after they have been discharged from mental health services.

How to access the services

Referrals are accepted from any service in adult mental health services within Humber Teaching NHS Foundation Trust, though should only be made with the agreement of the individual’s care co-ordinator or the clinical lead of their prospective community team if they do not already have a care co-ordinator allocated.

Humber DBT is a small service and due to the nature of the support we provide, we have specific criteria that an individual should meet in order to be referred to the team for direct treatment. Care co-ordinators are able to contact the team directly on the email address on this page to discuss potential referrals and whether they would be accepted, and they can view relevant information on the referral process on the Trust intranet DBT page. It may be that indirect support would be provided via other professionals working with people who do not meet the referral criteria.

If you are interested in trying any DBT principles, speak to your care co-ordinator if you have one to consider how we could be involved, or if you are not currently in mental health services, you can arrange a mental health assessment through the usual Mental Health Response Service (MHRS) process to consider if secondary mental health services may be beneficial for you.