Co-Producing LGBTQ-Affirmative DBT Protocols.

Aims:

1. To co-produce new intervention parts that meet the needs of LGBTQ+ people at risk of self-harm or suicidal thoughts, with LGBTQ+ people and DBT therapists. These intervention parts will be integrated into a Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) intervention, that is provided earlier in a persons mental health care journey, than DBT is usually targeted at. 2. To assess how acceptable and feasible the co-production process was for participants, and how well it achieved co-production principles (e.g. participants feel supported, that the aims were transparent, etc).

Why is This Important? Young people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and with other minoritised gender and sexual identities (LGBTQ+) are much more likely to self-harm and experience suicidal thoughts than cisgender-heterosexual (non-LGBTQ+) people. They also experience barriers when accessing mental health support. Some of these barriers come from a lack of support tailored towards their needs as an LGBTQ+ person. This often means that things get worse before they access the right support, and so are often seen in higher-intensity interventions (tier 4 or tertiary care), like DBT.

What The Investigators Plan to Do:

The investigators plan to hold some focus groups with three different groups of people to co-produce the new intervention parts. The three groups include:

1. A group of LGBTQ+ young people (13-21 years old) who have completed a at full DBT programme recently. 2. A group of LGBTQ+ young people (13-21 years old) who have never been in a full DBT programme but experienced similar difficulties. 3. A group of DBT therapists who have supported LGBTQ+ young people before.

The investigators will seek feedback from participants about how acceptable they found the study (e.g. how satisfied they were with the process), how feasible it was (e.g. were they able to attend and was it practice?), and how well they stuck to the coproduction principles (e.g. how supported they felt).