Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Women Victims of Domestic Abuse: A Pilot Study

This article describes a brief, 12-week dialectical behavior therapy program modified for female victims of domestic abuse and provides a preliminary examination of this intervention. Dialectical behavior therapy is a comprehensive cognitive-behavioral treatment, which was originally developed to treat multiproblem clients with severe and chronic emotion dysregulation, and was adapted for this study to treat female victims of domestic abuse. From pretreatment to posttreatment, participants (N = 31) showed significant reductions in depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and general psychiatric distress as well as increased social adjustment. Additionally, participants reported high levels of consumer satisfaction with the treatment. Findings support the possible utility of dialectical behavior therapy for enhancing psychological and social well-being in female victims of domestic abuse.