Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Training for Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder

Abstract

Although the majority recovers from the death of a loved one, nearly 5% exhibit persistent symptoms of grief, known as Persistent Complex Bereavement Disorder (PCBD). PCBD has adverse health, social, and psychological consequences. We examined the effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills training with a 57-year-old African American woman who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) criteria for PCBD and Persistent Depressive Disorder. The client met with a graduate student therapist (i.e., the second author) who applied DBT skills training on an individual basis. By the end of treatment, the participant no longer met the criteria for either of these disorders. Reliable and clinically significant reduction in her grief and depressive symptoms, suicidality, and sleep difficulties were noted from pre- to posttreatment and maintained for 2 months post treatment. Furthermore, she improved her ability to regulate her emotions and cognitions using DBT coping skills and eliminated substance abuse. These results prompt the need for more research to further investigate DBT skills training for PCBD.