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Marsha Linehan, creator of dialectical behavior therapy, passed away in Seattle last week.

Marsha embraced lived experience to inform her groundbreaking scientific and clinical work.

Her bold legacy extends far beyond DBT to challenging sexism and stigma in social science.

This post was written with input from Ursula Whiteside, Ph.D., a former student of Marsha Linehan.

Earlier this week, the field lost an icon. Marsha Linehan, creator of dialectical behavior therapy, passed away in Seattle on November 10. She was 83.

Marsha earned her Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Loyola University and received her clinical training as a postdoctoral fellow at Stony Brook University. She then embarked on a storied clinical and academic career at the University of Washington, starting in 1977.

Most of the world knows Marsha the scientist. Some of us were lucky enough to know Marsha the person. One of my great career fortunes was to join the University of Washington faculty in 2000, where I got to know both.

Marsha was a true trailblazer. She formulated DBT, a treatment that’s helped thousands of people live........

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