France
About Us
The idea to launch a French-speaking DBT association was born during the DBT-PTSD training that Martin Bohus delivered online in 2021 to a French-speaking public. We had initially planned to deliver the training in Paris – Martin was excited with the idea – but COVID stopped us. Following the training, Martin said that he supported our idea to launch an association. Blessed by one of the best, we felt empowered to give it a try. Given the huge needs in terms of DBT dissemination in France, and the close links between French-speaking clinicians in Switzerland and France, we knew from the beginning that our association would include France, Switzerland, and other French-speaking countries willing to join us.
Local therapy programmes
1. French-part of Switzerland (Geneva, Lausanne, Fribourg)
For the past 20+ years, and after a foundational training organized with Marsha Linehan in Geneva and the publication of the translations of her book in French, the French-part of Switzerland has featured several active groups in DBT. Collegial links were maintained over the years, but only after the publication of the first RCT in 2016, a formal interest group was formed encompassing the three main University centers and hospitals, and colleagues in private practice. Since then, we have been organizing high-level training, by inviting Shelley McMain, Lars Mehlum, Wies Van den Bosch, Alan Fruzzetti and others to Lausanne in the context of the GIR-TCD (regional interest group for the support of DBT). These activities boost the expertise in the three clinical DBT programs and support development of new areas of expertise and research (DBT in adolescence, ADHD, antisocial behavior, addiction and so forth). The inter-University training curriculum in DBT (19 days) about to start in 2026, under the lead of Ueli Kramer, Nader Perroud and Florence Guénot is another example of the fruitful collaboration.
2. Strasbourg, France
We provide comprehensive DBT, DBT-PE and DBT-PTSD to stage 1 clients. Our outpatient program has a minimal duration of 6-months. The team includes clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, nurses, a peer with lived experience and an occupational therapist. The funding was acquired via the Fonds d‘Innovation Organisationnelle en Psychiatrie (FIOP). The team leaders are Luisa Weiner and Sébastien Weibel.
3. Province of Québec, Canada
Hélène Poitras, trainer with BehavioralTech Institute, founded TCD Québec, an organisation dedicated to providing DBT training in French to clinicians. Across the province of Quebec, many teams are providing comprehensive DBT and some are providing DBT-PE or DBT-PTSD. In addition, some teams are providing DBT Skills groups as a primary DBT intervention. In the context of the national mandate for the organisation of public mental health services in Quebec, DBT is playing an important role in the dissemination of services for people with personality disorders. Collaboration with the French-speaking DBT association enables us to work together to disseminate French-language training in DBT.
Members
Our association is transnational, as it includes French-speaking clinicians in France, Québec, Switzerland, and Belgium. This is why we have two presidents from two different countries:
- Luisa Weiner (France) – president
- Ueli Kramer (Switzerland) -president
- Hélène Poitras (Quebec) – board member
At the moment, we count over 100 people among our members. Most of them are psychiatrists and psychologists, but there are also occupational therapists and nurses.