Exploring the effectiveness of combined mentalization-based group therapy and dialectical behaviour therapy for inpatients with borderline personality disorder - A pilot study.

Clinical implications Dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) can usefully be combined with mentalization-based treatment (MBT). The combination of DBT and MBT reduces self-harm more than DBT alone. DBT plus MBT may lead to a reduction in fearful attachment and improvement of affective mentalizing. Short-term combinations of evidence-based borderline treatments may enrich psychiatric inpatient care. Therefore, such approaches deserve further research. Limitations The treatment condition was therapeutically more intense than the control condition. The study lacked a follow-up assessment. The impact of comorbid conditions on treatment response was not taken into account. Adherence to the manualized approach was not measured.