About Us

History

The WDBTA traces its origins to 2015, when Marsha Linehan asked the steering committee of the DBT Strategic Planning Meeting, a group of DBT researchers, to develop an international organization to connect those doing DBT around the world. In 2017, the steering committee began this task in earnest, and in 2018 an initial proposal was discussed with a group of key members of the field. This growing group of key participants informed the ultimate development of the organizational structure and bylaws over the next several years. WDBTA formalized as a nonprofit organization in 2022.

WDBTA Structure

The WDBTA was organized so that there could be a dialectical balance between continuity of expertise and member-elected regional presentation.

A flowchart showing the structure of the WDBTA. The board of directors consists of two sources: Standing committees (Training and Standards, Treatment Integrity, Research and Development and International Dissemination), and Full members from around the world as part of their respective chapters of the WDBTA, which then feed into the board of directors. The board of directors is thus comprised of 1-2 representatives per chapter and standing committee. These can then form into the Ethics committee and other Ad-hoc committees as needed.