Within the Areas of Clinical Focus work behavior area, counselors are expected to know evidence-based treatments for specific clinical conditions, including personality disorders.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) (Option C) was originally developed by Marsha Linehan specifically to treat chronically suicidal individuals diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). DBT integrates:

Cognitive-behavioral strategies for behavior change,

Acceptance-based strategies (e.g., mindfulness),

A dialectical framework balancing acceptance and change.

The model includes:

Individual therapy,

Group skills training (mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness),

Phone coaching,

Consultation team for therapists.

These features reflect the NBCC-aligned work behavior expectation that counselors understand appropriate, validated modalities for complex clinical presentations such as BPD.

Why the other options are incorrect:

A. Analytical behavioral analysis – This is not the recognized model associated with the original treatment of BPD.

B. Cognitive behavioral therapy – While DBT evolved from CBT and CBT techniques are useful with many disorders, standard CBT was not specifically designed as the original, specialized treatment protocol for BPD.

D. Transactional analysis – A distinct theoretical model focusing on ego states and life scripts; it is not the empirically established, original treatment model for BPD.

Counselors working with personality disorders are expected to identify and, when within their scope, apply or refer for treatments such as DBT, which are designed and researched for these clinical populations.