Implementation in National Systems

The National Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) Project, Ireland was established in 2013 in the Republic of Ireland. The aims of the project were twofold: to implement DBT in Community Mental Health Services across Ireland and to evaluate this coordinated implementation of DBT at a national level. This chapter describes the process of implementing DBT in the public health system in Ireland. It first describes how the need emerged for a coordinated national implementation, and the framework put in place to establish and put this coordinated initiative into action. It then considers challenges to a national implementation of an evidence-based treatment such as DBT and approaches that were employed to overcome such challenges. The chapter concludes with a summary of implementation outcomes and key learnings from this initiative as well as recommendations and considerations for DBT implementation and ongoing sustainability in community mental health services.