About this course

Learning Objectives

• Identify the core assumptions about clients in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
• Explain how DBT assumptions inform therapist stance, including the balance of acceptance and change.
• Apply DBT assumptions to clinical situations to enhance validation, engagement, and management of treatment-interfering behaviors.
• Describe the core components of a MED-DBT treatment team, including the roles of multidisciplinary providers and the central function of the therapist–client dyad.
• Identify common challenges that arise when working with external providers (e.g., conflicting philosophies, limited ED training, medical minimization) and their impact on treatment.
• Apply MED-DBT Team Agreements (e.g., dialectical agreement, consultation-to-the-client, consistency agreement) to clinical scenarios in order to reduce polarization and improve coordination of care.
• Demonstrate strategies for supporting client advocacy and navigating system-level barriers while maintaining adherence to MED-DBT principles.

Learning Levels

• Intermediate

Course Instructor(s)

• 

  Anita Federici, Ph.D, C.Psych, FAED

  Owner, Clinical Director, The Centre for Psychology + Emotion Regulation; Adjunct Faculty, Graduate Studies, York University

  Dr. Anita Federici is a Clinical Psychologist and Owner of The Centre for Psychology and Emotion Regulation. She serves an Adjunct Faculty position at York University and is a distinguished Fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED). She is the co-author of the MED-DBT Treatment Manual (to be published in 2025 with Guilford Press). From 2019 - 2022, Anita served as the Co-Chair for the Suicide and DBT Special Interest Group (SIG) for the AED and currently sits on the SIG Oversight Committee with AED. In 2019, she was awarded Business Woman of the Year by the Meridian Women of Excellence Committee for her outstanding contributions to the community and to the province. In 2020, she was awarded the ‘Outstanding individual" by The Bulimia and Anorexia Nervosa Association.

  Anita has had a considerable impact on the field through her leadership, advocacy work, and expertise. She has provided more than 400 lectures, workshops, and invited talks on eating disorders, DBT, and MED-DBT, and greatly values her work with experts by experience. She has developed a robust training program, a wide network of allied health professionals, and a treatment centre in an underserved and rural region of Ontario. Her passion for inspiring and invigorating hope for clients and clinicians is at the heart of her work.

  Known for her engaging and authentic style of training, Anita has become a highly sought-after consultant. She works extensively on an international level with hospitals and community organizations offering team training, implementation support, and program development with a special focus on creating differential care pathways for clients who do not respond to traditional treatment approaches. Her work has been presented at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals and invited book chapters. Her co-authored book on MED-DBT will be available through Guilford Publishers in 2025.

• 

  Lucene Wisniewski, PhD, FAED

  Chief Clinical Officer, Center for Evidence Based Treatment (CEBT); Adjunct Assistant Professor, Psychological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University

  Dr. Wisniewski is an internationally recognized leader in eating disorder treatment and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), with almost 30 years of clinical, research and training experience. An Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychological Sciences at Case Western Reserve University, Dr. Wisniewski has taught hundreds of workshops and continuing education seminars around the world and has authored numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals and invited book chapters.

  Dr. Wisniewski has pioneered the use of DBT in the treatment of multi-diagnostic eating disorders (MED) and is a sought-after authority on this empirically founded method of treatment, providing consultation and training to clinics around the globe. She is the co-author of the MED-DBT Treatment Manual to be published in 2025 with Guilford Press.

  Dr. Wisniewski has earned some of the highest awards and accreditations in the field. She has been elected fellow by the Academy for Eating Disorders (AED), where she has served on the board of directors and as the co-chair of the borderline personality disorder special interest group. In 2013 the AED awarded Dr. Wisniewski the Outstanding Clinician Award to acknowledge her leadership in the field and her commitment to providing the best solutions for those with eating disorders. In 2023, she was recognized as Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) Champion for her exceptional dedication, influence, and social impact through the promotion of evidence-based psychological interventions. In 2024 Dr. Wisniewski was honored with the Fulbright Specialist Award, through which she served at Comenzar de Nuevo AC, a non-profit eating disorder facility in Monterrey, Mexico.

  Dr. Wisniewski is the founder and Chief Clinical Officer of the Center for Evidence Based Treatment (www.cebtohio.com), which offers therapy, training, and consultation in evidence-based approaches to mental health conditions via traditional and teletherapy platforms.

Disclosure

References

• Rudge, S., Feigenbaum, J. D., & Fonagy, P. (2020). Mechanisms of change in dialectical behaviour therapy and cognitive behaviour therapy for borderline personality disorder: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Mental Health, 29(1), 92–102.
• Hall, A., et al. (2025). Transdiagnostic patient experiences of dialectical behaviour therapy. BMC Psychiatry.
• Granato, H. F., Sewart, A. R., Vinograd, M., & McFarr, L. (2021). Dialectical behavior therapy. In A. Wenzel (Ed.), Handbook of cognitive behavioral therapy: Overview and approaches (pp. 539–565). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000218-018
• Swales, M. A., & Heard, H. L. (2017). Dialectical behaviour therapy: Distinctive features (2nd ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315544540