Testing an Alliance-Focused Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Training for Borderline Personality Disorder

NCT ID: NCT07119541

Last Updated: 2025-12-02

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: ACTIVE_NOT_RECRUITING
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 80 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2025-08-01
• Study Completion Date: 2026-01-31

Brief Summary

The study evaluates the feasibility, acceptability, and effect sizes of two alliance-focused dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) training interventions to improve therapists' abilities to recognize and respond to alliance ruptures with clients with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Participants will be randomly assigned to receive either a 4-week training as usual (TAU), which include didactic training plus reflective practice (i.e., thinking about past actions to gain insight for future actions) or a 4-week didactic training plus deliberate practice training (i.e., setting individualized training goals, skills coaching, and opportunities for repeated practice with expert feedback). A pre-post design will be used to assess effect sizes for change in participants' abilities to recognize and respond to alliance ruptures. Therapist characteristics will be assessed to determine moderating effects on training outcome. Feasibility and acceptability of the training intervention will be assessed following the trainings.

Detailed Description

Borderline personality disorder is a severe psychological disorder characterized by a pattern of emotional dysregulation, interpersonal difficulties, and impulsivity. The therapeutic alliance is the cornerstone of effective psychotherapy with clients with BPD and is positively associated with treatment retention and clinical improvement. However, the therapeutic alliance in BPD treatments can be difficult to form and maintain. BPD symptoms such as emotional instability, heightened emotional reactivity, greater susceptibility to negative emotions, and interpersonal sensitivity can impact the establishment of a strong therapeutic alliance. Additionally, when clients are emotionally dysregulated or presenting with high-risk behaviors, therapists are especially vulnerable to becoming reactive and engaging in therapy-interfering behaviors that can elicit or exacerbate alliance ruptures (i.e., tension, strain, or breakdown in the therapeutic alliance). Research suggests that therapists' abilities to effectively repair alliance ruptures when they occur is critical for positive clinical outcomes in BPD treatments.

Despite the importance of alliance rupture responsiveness in BPD treatments, many of the current methods employed in psychotherapy training do not adequately develop these therapeutic skills. Psychotherapy training typically focuses on the therapeutic relationship in an unstructured, non-systematic way, using instructional or supervision-based methods despite evidence that suggests this type of passive learning is ineffective for skill development. Recent advancements in psychotherapy training have begun to focus on improving therapists' skills in navigating alliance rupture and repair, however these trainings are often time intensive and do not sufficiently target the unique client needs and therapist challenges that emerge in BPD treatments.

The primary aim of this pilot randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and effect sizes of two alliance-focused DBT training interventions to improve therapists' abilities to recognize and respond to alliance ruptures with BPD clients. Additionally, we will examine whether specific therapist characteristics moderate the impact of training. Up to eighty psychotherapists will be randomly assigned to receive either a 4-week training as usual, which includes alliance-focused training plus reflective practice or a 4-week alliance-focused training plus deliberate practice training. Both trainings include the same content but employ different training methods (i.e., deliberate practice versus reflective practice). Change in skill acquisition related to recognizing and responding to alliance ruptures will be assessed based on a set of performance tasks (interpersonal facilitative skills, process recognition, emotion recognition). Therapist characteristics of emotion regulation, empathy, emotional reactivity, and humility will be assessed by self-report to determine change in emotion regulation, humility, interpersonal reactivity, and empathy, and the moderating effects of these characteristics on training outcome. Finally, participants will be asked about the feasibility and acceptability of the training interventions.

Conditions

Borderline Personality Disorder; Emotion Dysregulation

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Alliance-Focused DBT Training plus Deliberate Practice

Immediately receives 4 sessions of a psychotherapy training intervention to improve ability to recognize and respond to alliance ruptures in treatments with clients with borderline personality disorder.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Alliance-Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy plus Deliberate Practice

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The alliance-focused DBT training plus deliberate practice is a 4-session weekly intervention delivered to therapists working with individuals with borderline personality disorder or emotion dysregulation. This training intervention involves a didactic component, video analysis, and case-based learning. Deliberate practice methods (e.g., setting individualized training goals, skills coaching, feedback, and opportunities for repeated practice) will be integrated both within and between training sessions.

Alliance-Focused Training plus Reflective Practice (Training as Usual)

Immediately receives 4 sessions of a psychotherapy training intervention to improve ability to recognize and respond to alliance ruptures in treatments with clients with borderline personality disorder.

Group Type: ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Alliance-Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy plus Reflective Practice

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

The alliance-focused DBT training plus reflective practice is a 4-session weekly intervention delivered to therapists working with individuals with borderline personality disorder or emotion dysregulation. Trainings will involve a didactic component, video analysis, and case-based learning. Reflective practice methods (i.e., thinking about past experiences to gain insight for future actions) will be integrated both within and between training sessions.

Interventions

Alliance-Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy plus Deliberate Practice

The alliance-focused DBT training plus deliberate practice is a 4-session weekly intervention delivered to therapists working with individuals with borderline personality disorder or emotion dysregulation. This training intervention involves a didactic component, video analysis, and case-based learning. Deliberate practice methods (e.g., setting individualized training goals, skills coaching, feedback, and opportunities for repeated practice) will be integrated both within and between training sessions.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Alliance-Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy plus Reflective Practice

The alliance-focused DBT training plus reflective practice is a 4-session weekly intervention delivered to therapists working with individuals with borderline personality disorder or emotion dysregulation. Trainings will involve a didactic component, video analysis, and case-based learning. Reflective practice methods (i.e., thinking about past experiences to gain insight for future actions) will be integrated both within and between training sessions.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. Participants must be over the age of 18

2. Participants must be regulated health professionals in Canada who are authorized to deliver psychotherapy as part of their scope of practice, or a students in training under the supervision of a regulated health professional in Canada authorized to deliver psychotherapy as part of their scope of practice.

3. Participants must currently be providing psychotherapy

4. Participants must have access to reliable internet service

5. Participants must indicate that they are available to attend the training intervention times provided

6. Participants must agree to participate in the 4 weekly training intervention

7. Participants must state willingness to comply with study procedures (i.e., to complete pre- and post-intervention research evaluations, and between training homework exercises.

Exclusion Criteria

• None

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

York University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Tali Boritz

Assistant Professor

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Tali Boritz, Ph.D.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

York University

Locations

York University

Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Countries

Canada

Other Identifiers

e2024-091

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id