If I can do it, you can do it. —Marsha Linehan, PhD
In the summer of 2011, psychologist Marsha M. Linehan traveled to the Institute of Living in Connecticut to make an important announcement about how she came to develop her ground-breaking treatment, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (or DBT).
She revealed that DBT wasn’t just for other people. DBT was personal. The skills and strategies that define this evidence-based treatment had also helped her. That wasn’t all, however. The seeds of DBT were planted decades ago at The Institute of Living where Linehan received treatment for self-harm and suicidal thinking when she was in her late teens. In her new book, Building a Life Worth Living: A Memoir, Linehan states that it was the hardest talk she ever gave. She writes, “I didn’t want to die a coward.”
The story was so important that it appeared on the front page of The New York Times.
Marsha Linehan, creator of the highly-regarded Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), discusses Borderline Personality Disorder from the viewpoint of a clinician / researcher of the highest caliber.
Linehan’s long-awaited memoir is an important book for individuals who experience emotional pain and their families. It’s more than an autobiography about a popular and smart girl from Tulsa, Oklahoma, who grew up in a big Catholic family and became a world-renowned researcher; it’s a story about recovery from emotional pain and traumatic invalidation.
Linehan shares her story in a way that is both honest and sweetly self-reflective. Her hopeful message is told in a way that is congruent with the values of DBT—wholly dialectical and without blame. It’s an engaging read for people who are determined to take responsibility for their emotional health and, with Linehan’s encouragement, make their way “out of hell.”
This book is a must-read for DBT fans and for those who want to understand how DBT evolved, but it’s also for anyone who has ever felt painfully misunderstood or alone. Building a Life Worth Living is a memoir for those who never fit in and didn’t know why.
Sensitive readers should know that this book contains short descriptions of self-harming behaviors, suicide attempts, and other painful moments from Linehan’s life. My hope, however, is that readers will walk away inspired by Linehan’s book and want to create their own life worth living.
You can purchase Building a Life Worth Living through Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, and Amazon.co.uk. You can also find Building a Life Worth Living on Audible.