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

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.

NCT Number	NCT07119541
Lead Sponsor	York University
Conditions	Borderline Personality Disorder, Emotion Dysregulation
Enrollment	80 participants
Start Date	2025-08-01
Primary Completion	2025-11-28 (estimated)
Study Completion	2026-09-30 (estimated)
Updated on ClinicalTrials.gov	2026-07-29