Lay summary
Dialectic behaviour therapy (DBT) is an evidence-based cognitive behavioural therapy that has repeatedly been shown to be effective for improving mental health outcomes for adolescents and adults, particularly with regards to self-harm and suicidality. Suicide rates in Aotearoa are one of the highest in developed countries, and rates of self-harm and suicidality for Māori are amongst the highest. Such high rates are due to Māori disproportionately experiencing health inequities, institutional and structural racism, historical trauma, and number of barriers to accessing helping including a lack of culturally responsive treatment. One barrier to accessing effective treatment is the ongoing use of manualised treatments that have been developed internationally, that have not been adapted or validated for Māori. This proposal seeks to explore the views of Māori rangatahi, whānua and tangata whaiora about the current DBT programme used in Aotearoa, and to use these findings to adapt DBT using co-design.