Overview

This session will provide an overview of the prevalence of substance use and substance use disorder (SUD) in the Melbourne context of young people living with BPD and provide participants with an understanding of attendant risks and an introduction to dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) for substance use disorder as an evidence-based (read: effective) dual-diagnosis modality to address this very serious mental and physical health concern.

Objectives

1. Gain knowledge of the DBT-SUD approach to working with young people who have BPD and SUD.
2. Demonstration of how to incorporate DBT practices into existing treatment service provision.
3. An opportunity to share experiences of effective engagement with young people in this cohort.
    

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About the presenters

Zoe Gibbs is a Senior Clinical Psychologist at Spectrum where she provides DBT for adults, young people and their families. She has been with Spectrum for several years now where she specialises in Complex PTSD through a DBT framework. She also has a particular interest in working with BPD in a youth population, having spent several years working at the Maudsley Hospital in London where she specialised in DBT for adolescents and families, in addition to experience within the CYMHS sector in Victoria.

Peter Smith is an ACT therapist and workforce development educator at Spectrum and also engages in secondary consultation in the Personality Disorder Initiative. He is an accredited mental health social worker in private practice who also has many years’ experience in a variety of contexts including: rights advocacy, policy and governance for a student union and housing/accommodation for homeless people with mental health concerns. More recently and extensively he has worked in public mental health outpatient clinics in a variety of roles including case management, in outreach mental health support for homeless people and in crisis assessment and intervention including PACER.