She is the creator of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), a type of psychotherapy that combines cognitive restructuring with acceptance, mindfulness, and shaping.
In a 2011 interview with The New York Times, Linehan said that she "does not remember" taking any psychiatric medication after leaving the Institute of Living when she was 18 years old.
[3] After leaving Loyola University, Linehan started a post doctoral internship at The Suicide Prevention and Crisis Service in Buffalo, New York between 1971 and 1972.
From Buffalo, Linehan completed a Post-Doctoral fellowship in behavior modification at Stony Brook University.
During this same time Linehan also served as an assistant professor in psychology at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. from 1973 to 1977.
In 1977, Linehan took a position at the University of Washington as an adjunct assistant professor in the Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences department.
[5] In 1967, while she prayed in a small Catholic chapel in Chicago, she said: One night I was kneeling in there, looking up at the cross, and the whole place became gold – and suddenly I felt something coming toward me ...
DBT uses a multitude of techniques such as behavioral therapy, strategies that improve coping and regulation of emotion, and mindfulness skills.
[7][8][9] Linehan is unmarried and lives with her adult adopted Peruvian daughter Geraldine "Geri" and her son-in-law Nate in Seattle, Washington.