The SELF Study

An Uncontrolled Feasibility Study to Examine the Impact of Delivering a Comprehensive School-Based Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (CSB‐DBT) for Young People Reporting Self-Harming Behaviour: the SELF study.

What’s the background?

Self-harm is a problem that is becoming more common among children and young people. Schools have a crucial role to play in supporting those who engage in this behaviour. However, it’s important to identify suitable approaches for the school environment.

What’s Dialectical Behaviour Therapy for Adolescents (DBT-A)?

DBT-A is a treatment that has been shown to reduce self-harm in adolescents when used in clinical settings. It’s a type of therapy that helps young people who are struggling with their emotions and behaviours. The therapy teaches them new skills to cope with difficult situations and manage their feelings better and includes a mix of one-to-one sessions with a therapist and group skills workshops together with other young people.

What does the SELF study hope to do?

This project is a feasibility study examining the implementation of DBT-A therapy within schools, known as Comprehensive School-Based Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (CSB-DBT). A feasibility study asks whether something can be done, should we proceed with it, and if so, how.

We aim to find out whether young people who report self-harming behaviour are willing to receive such support and participate in research assessing the therapy’s effectiveness. Participants will be asked questions about their experiences of CSB-DBT, as well as their feelings and behaviours before and after treatment.

We will use what we have learned to plan a larger study that will involve more schools and young people so that we can test if CSB-DBT is a good way to help self-harming adolescents.