Czech
About Us
The first DBT center in Czechia was established in 2008 within the therapeutic community Kaleidoskop near Prague. In 2019, the country’s first healthcare-based DBT program was launched at the University Hospital Brno. Interestingly, the team leaders—Renata Tumlířová (Kaleidoskop) and Pavla Horká Linhartová (University Hospital Brno)—were unaware of each other’s work until they met in 2018 at a DBT skills training course in the UK.
Since then, we have been building a Czech DBT community. In 2022, a third comprehensive program, led by intensively trained therapists, was established at the Child Psychiatric Hospital in Opařany. It has become increasingly clear that the number of patients with BPD is rising rapidly in clinical care. There is both a growing demand for specialized treatments and a significant interest among professionals in training for effective BPD treatment strategies.
Since 2023, a national operational project led by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of Czechia has been in place, with members of our DBT section serving as professional guarantors and methodologists. This project has facilitated the establishment of several new DBT programs across the country (NIMH Prague, Klatovy, Mladá Boleslav, and Plzeň) and has supported the wider dissemination of DBT in Czechia.
Local therapy programmes
- The DBT program at University Hospital Brno was established in 2019 as the first healthcare-based and second overall DBT program in Czechia. We offer a six-month outpatient program, including two skills training sessions and one individual therapy session per week. Fully covered by insurance, the program still has a two-year waitlist. In 2024, we doubled capacity to two groups of 10 patients each (we have over 90 absolvents). Additionally, we provide a four-week inpatient DBT program. Our team consists of 11 intensively trained members.
- The Kaleidoskop Center operates three DBT programs within social services. The therapeutic community (since 2006) integrates DBT with programs lasting 4–18 months. The DBT Center for Adults in Prague (since 2015) runs four concurrent groups, while the DBT Day Program for Adolescents (since 2021) offers seven multi-family and one adolescent-only group. We also run three online DBT groups and launched “DBT in Schools” in 2024. Kaleidoskop’s 30-therapist team supports 130 free-service clients and 50 in paid programs.
- The DBT program at the Children’s Psychiatric Hospital in Opařany (est. 2022) is Czechia’s first healthcare inpatient DBT program for adolescents (14–17 years). The 7–8-week D-BOAT (Dialectical Behavioral Opařany Adolescent Therapy) program includes daily skills training, weekly individual therapy and parent groups. Fully covered by insurance, it has served 150 adolescents and families. Our team consists of 11 intensively trained therapists.
Members
Our association operates as the DBT section under the Czech CBT Association. Established in June 2023, it was formed by DBT therapists from the three DBT programs led by intensively trained DBT therapists in Czechia. We currently have 32 members, primarily psychologists, psychiatrists, and social workers. The section is led by Pavla Horká Linhartová, with Zuzana Koubková and Tereza Šmejcká serving as co-leaders, each representing a DBT site. In 2024, several new DBT programs were launched in Czechia, and we actively invite new DBT therapists to join. We anticipate significant growth in membership throughout 2025.