A DBT treatment manual for adolescents and
parents struggling with emotion dysregulation and impulsive behaviors
Adolescent DBT developed at Montefiore Medical Center
The translated editions of the DBT for Adolescents books were clinically applied and
refined through the work of Dr. Yong Cho.
Book Description
The Korean edition of DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents has been published by The Tree Group Press to help make evidence-based DBT resources more accessible to a broader audience.
DBT Skills Manual for Adolescents is an invaluable treatment manual developed through years of clinical practice and research by Jill H. Rathus and Alec L. Miller at Montefiore Medical Center, with the support of Marsha M. Linehan, the developer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
For many years, there were few psychotherapeutic approaches available for adolescents struggling with self-destructive behaviors, recurrent crises, and impulsive behavioral problems. DBT, developed by Marsha Linehan, brought together cognitive behavioral treatment, mindfulness, and acceptance within an evidence-based model, offering new hope to adolescents and parents once considered difficult to treat.
DBT for adolescents preserves the core structure of the standard DBT program originally developed for adults while adapting the treatment to the developmental needs of teenagers. In addition to the standard DBT skills modules, the authors developed Walking the Middle Path, a family-based module designed specifically for adolescents and their families. The treatment model also includes family sessions, parent psychoeducation, caregiver-focused interventions, and direct parent participation in skills training, helping create a more supportive and validating environment for adolescents.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy for adolescents encourages parents and family members to learn DBT behavioral skills together and to change invalidating or ineffective patterns of family interaction. Through multifamily skills training and shared behavioral practice, adolescents struggling with emotion dysregulation and impulsive behaviors can begin to make meaningful changes in their thoughts and actions, while families learn more effective ways of communicating, responding, and supporting one another.
About the Authors
Jill H. Rathus, PhD
Jill H. Rathus, PhD, is Professor of Psychology at the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University, where she directs a scientist-practitioner training program in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
Dr. Rathus is also codirector of Cognitive Behavioral Associates in Great Neck, New York, a treatment center specializing in Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT). She is coauthor, with Alec L. Miller and Marsha M. Linehan, of Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Suicidal Adolescents.
Dr. Rathus’s research interests include DBT, CBT, adolescent suicide, marital distress, intimate partner violence, anxiety disorders, and psychological assessment. She has published numerous articles and books in these areas, serves as a reviewer for psychological research journals, consults on the development of treatment programs, and trains mental health professionals internationally.
Alec L. Miller, PsyD
Alec L. Miller, PsyD, is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center. He also serves as Chief of Child and Adolescent Psychology and Director of the Adolescent Depression and Suicide Program.
Dr. Miller is cofounder of Cognitive and Behavioral Consultants, with offices in Westchester and Manhattan, New York. He has published extensively on DBT, adolescent suicide, child abuse, and borderline personality disorder, and has trained thousands of mental health professionals in DBT.
He is a Fellow of Division 12, Clinical Psychology, and Division 53, Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Miller is also coauthor, with Jill H. Rathus and Marsha M. Linehan, of Dialectical Behavior Therapy with Suicidal Adolescents.
About the Translator
Yong Cho, PhD
Yong Cho, PhD, is a psychologist licensed in New York State and the founder and president of The Tree Group and the DBT Institute of Korea. After graduating from the University of Utah, he earned his doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The New School for Social Research.
He began his clinical training at Beth Israel Medical Center in 1997. In 1998, he continued formal psychotherapy and DBT clinical training at Zucker Hillside Hospital / Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. He completed an APA-accredited internship program at the same hospital. Beginning in the early 2000s, he became one of the first clinicians to apply DBT with Korean and Asian clients experiencing emotion dysregulation, borderline personality disorder, and Hwa-Byung symptoms. He also established the Asian American Family Clinic within the hospital system, where he provided psychotherapy for clients from diverse cultural backgrounds. His work was featured in The New York Times and other media outlets.
In 2003, he founded The Tree Group in Korea, where he has provided evidence-based psychotherapy programs including DBT, Prolonged Exposure Therapy (PE), and behavior therapy. In 2007, through collaboration with Marsha M. Linehan and DBT specialists in Seattle, he established the Dialectical Behavior Therapy Center of Korea under The Tree Group. In 2008, he invited Dr. Linehan to Korea and organized a DBT professional workshop.
In 2023, he founded the DBT Institute of Korea, a professional training institute dedicated to the ethical dissemination and implementation of DBT. During 2023–2024, he collaborated with Behavioral Tech to organize the official DBT Intensive Training program in Korea. He currently provides DBT treatment and education for Korean- and English-speaking adults, adolescents, parents, and families as both a clinician and educator.
