At Home Counties Therapy, we are committed to providing the highest quality Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) service possible. That’s why we chose to take part in the DBT Centre of Excellence Accreditation, awarded by the Association for Psychological Therapies (APT). APT is a well-established organisation with extensive expertise in psychological therapies, including DBT. The accreditation is an independent quality assurance process that reviews every aspect of a DBT programme against recognised standards of best practice.
For us, this wasn’t simply about achieving an award. It was an opportunity to reflect on our service, celebrate our strengths and identify ways to continue developing. Excellence and continual improvement are core values at Home Counties Therapy, and we see this process as an investment in our service and, most importantly, in the people we support.
What does the accreditation involve?
The DBT Centre of Excellence Accreditation looks at every aspect of how a DBT service is designed, delivered and continually improved.
Rather than focusing on one area, the accreditation reviews the whole programme, including:
- How closely the service follows the DBT model and philosophy.
- The quality of assessments, treatment planning and clinical documentation.
- How DBT principles are embedded throughout the service, from client resources to team meetings and consultation.
- The training, supervision and ongoing development of therapists.
- How clients are supported throughout their DBT journey.
- The environment and culture of the service.
- How feedback, outcome measures and service development are used to drive continuous improvement.
This collaborative approach ensures the accreditation reflects not only how our service is designed, but also how it is experienced by the people who use it. We wanted everyone to have a voice. Alongside our team, service users from across our DBT community took part, including those currently in the programme, DBT graduates and our peer mentors. Their honest feedback and experiences helped give the auditor a genuine picture of our service and the impact it has on people’s lives.
Our Accreditation Day
After months of preparation, the inspection day included:
- A review of our assessments, treatment pathways, resources and clinical documentation.
- A tour of Home Counties Therapy.
- A presentation from our DBT Lead, outlining our service and programme.
- Individual interviews with members of the DBT team.
- An informal lunch where service users met with the auditor to discuss their experiences.
- A final debrief and question-and-answer session.
What did the auditor find?
We were delighted that the inspection recognised many strengths across our service, including:
- Strong adherence to DBT principles and best practice.
- A dedicated, knowledgeable and highly trained team.
- Clear leadership and strong organisational values.
- Adaptations for neurodivergent clients.
- Robust risk management and crisis support.
- High client engagement and low drop-out rates.
Perhaps most importantly, the auditor heard inspiring stories from our service users about the positive impact DBT had made on their lives, including returning to work or education, improving relationships and building a life worth living. The report also included valuable recommendations, which we welcomed as opportunities to continue strengthening and improving our service.
What Next?
Achieving the DBT Centre of Excellence Accreditation is something we are incredibly proud of, but we don’t see it as the finish line. Our focus now is on maintaining the high standards we’ve achieved while continuing to develop our service. We know how important it is to remain consistent and never become complacent.
Over the coming months, our team will continue working on a range of service development projects, including developing new resources, strengthening staff training, refining our treatment pathways and continuing to improve how we measure outcomes and client experiences.
We’d like to thank every member of our team and every service user who contributed to the accreditation process. Their commitment, openness and feedback helped make this achievement possible. As always, we remain committed to providing compassionate, evidence-based DBT while continuing to learn, develop and improve.
