For decades, addiction treatment sat in two separate worlds. One world belonged to clinical, evidence-based therapy. The other belonged to the community fellowship of 12-step recovery programmes. Most people assumed the two rarely crossed paths. A NAADAC webinar scheduled for 20 May 2026 sets out to challenge that idea, showing how DBT and 12-step recovery share far more common ground than the field has recognised.

Titled The Skill of Taking Steps: Using DBT In Conjunction with 12 Steps, the session brings together two experienced clinicians. Their argument is straightforward: Dialectical Behaviour Therapy and 12-step programmes are not competing models. They are complementary ones.

Two Models, One Goal

Dr Marsha Linehan developed Dialectical Behaviour Therapy to treat borderline personality disorder. Clinicians later adapted it for substance use disorders, creating what practitioners now call DBT-SUD. The approach centres on four core skill sets: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotional regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

The 12-step model has anchored recovery since Alcoholics Anonymous launched in 1935. Today, an estimated 23 million people worldwide take part in 12-step programmes, according to AA’s own membership surveys. That reach makes it one of the most widely used recovery frameworks on the planet.

At first glance, the two could not look more different. One follows a structured clinical manual. The other grows from peer-led, spiritually grounded community. Yet presenters Laura Goldstein and Sara Varga argue that the values underneath each model overlap in ways that matter clinically. Acceptance is central to both. Interpersonal connection runs through each approach, and participants in either model are asked to examine their behaviour honestly and make amends where they can.

What DBT and 12-Step Recovery Research Shows

Research firmly supports DBT-SUD as an effective treatment. Studies show it reduces substance use, improves emotional regulation, and lowers self-harm rates in people with co-occurring disorders. A 2019 meta-analysis in Behaviour Research and Therapy found DBT produced meaningful reductions in how often participants used substances, compared to control conditions.

Fewer researchers have explored how DBT skills map onto 12-step principles. But the parallels are hard to ignore. Radical acceptance, a core DBT distress tolerance technique, closely mirrors the 12-step emphasis on surrendering what a person cannot control. The interpersonal effectiveness module echoes the relational repair and community accountability at the heart of steps eight and nine. These are not surface-level similarities. They reflect shared beliefs about what recovery actually requires of a person.

According to SAMHSA’s 2023 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, around 48.7 million Americans aged 12 or older met the criteria for a substance use disorder in 2022. That figure represents roughly one in seven people. The scale of need demands that clinicians use every effective tool available, and that includes knowing how to combine approaches intelligently.

Meet the Presenters

Laura Goldstein holds a licence in Clinical Marriage and Family Therapy and practises in Maryland and Virginia. Her intensive DBT training came through the Linehan Behavioural Institute. She founded the Montgomery County Counselling Centre and created TheraCourses, an online psychoeducation platform. Three national NATSAP conferences have featured her as a presenter, and she brings direct experience from adolescent dual-diagnosis intensive outpatient settings.

Sara Varga is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker also working across Maryland and Virginia. Her career began as a wilderness therapist before she moved into directing an intensive outpatient programme for dual-diagnosed adolescents and young adults. From there, she co-founded a non-profit and helped establish Maryland’s only Recovery High School, serving as its first Head of School. Today she works as an outpatient therapist and supervisor.

Together, they offer a perspective that sits across clinical practice and community-based recovery. That combination is exactly what a conversation about integrating DBT and 12-step programmes requires.

An Integrated DBT and 12-Step Framework for Practitioners

The webinar gives professionals a working framework, not just a theoretical overview. Attendees will leave knowing how to describe the core principles of both models. They will identify where DBT and 12-step recovery align. They will also learn to use that knowledge to guide clients toward the most effective combination of support.

That practical focus matters. Many clients already attend 12-step meetings when they begin formal therapy. A clinician who understands how DBT skills reinforce what those clients hear in meetings can strengthen both. Recovery rarely happens in one setting alone. Research consistently finds that structured therapy and peer support together produce better long-term outcomes than either approach on its own.

For counsellors working with people who have strong ties to 12-step communities, this kind of integration removes a false choice. Clients do not have to pick between their home group and their therapist. Both can work in the same direction.

Who Should Attend and How to Register

The session suits addiction professionals, social workers, mental health counsellors, employee assistance professionals, and psychologists. It works for all experience levels. Those new to either model will find a clear introduction. Advanced practitioners will find material they can synthesise within complex caseloads.

The webinar runs from 12:00 to 1:30pm ET on Wednesday, 20 May 2026. Attendance is free. Participants who complete the full session, pass a post-event quiz with 80 per cent or above, and finish the online evaluation survey earn 1.5 continuing education hours. NAADAC members access the CE quiz at no cost. Non-members pay a $25 processing fee.

The NAADAC Education Centre hosts registration, CE quiz access, and certificate downloads. The session qualifies for ASWB ACE continuing education hours. It also meets California Board of Behavioural Sciences requirements for 1.5 CE hours for LMFTs, LCSWs, LPCCs, and LEPs. Live closed captioning runs throughout, meeting WCAG accessibility standards. For those who cannot attend live, on-demand access and a transcript will follow the event.

Source: dbrecoveryresources