Helping people find pathways to meaningful change.
My name is Vibh Forsythe Cox and I am a PhD clinical psychologist licensed in Washington State. I have experience providing a variety of Cognitive Behavioral Therapies and I specialize in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). I am a DBT Linehan Board of Certification Certified Clinician. I have experience providing DBT in a variety of settings, including university-based research, inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, forensic facilities, and outpatient clinics and private practice.
I am a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Washington and the Director of the Marsha M. Linehan Dialectical Behavior Therapy Training clinic. I also work for The Behavioral Tech Institute as a Trainer and Consultant. I provide consultation on DBT including consultation about cultural humility and cultural adaptations of DBT and adaptations for historically marginalized populations. I continue to be an active clinician who sees a small caseload of clients.
Current Foci
Clinical Director
Marsha M. Linehan Dialectical Behavior Therapy Clinic
Dialectical Behavior Therapy was developed by Dr. Marsha M. Linehan at the University of Washington. For decades Dr. Linehan ran a research and training clinic to help graduate students at the University Of Washington learn how to deliver this life saving treatment. Dr. Linehan retired in 2019 and a new specialty training clinic has been founded in her honor. I am the director of this clinic. In my role as director I work to ensure that we provide rigorous training for graduate student therapists and serve the values driven mission of serving clients with limited resources. I am a Clinical Associate Professor at the University and teach courses related to the delivery of evidence based treatment, specifically DBT, to high risk clients.
Trainer and Consultant
The Behavioral Tech Institute (Non-Profit)
The Behavioral Tech Institute is a non-profit organization that evolved from the training company founded by Dr. Marsha Linehan to train providers in DBT. As a trainer, I deliver Behavioral Tech trainings that educate providers on the delivery of adherent DBT that is faithful to the model that is supported by a robust body of research evidence. Sometimes DBT teams meet with consultants to ask specific questions about the delivery of the treatment and how best to apply the principles to complex cases. I am one of the consultants who Behavioral Tech can connect with Teams and individuals to provide this consultation.
I have provided in-person training in the United States and Canada and have provided remote consultation internationally to mental health professionals interested in learning or improving their skills providing Dialectical Behavior Therapy. My work in that capacity has given me the opportunity to teach hundreds of practitioners in 14 different countries the principles and strategies of Dialectical Behavior Therapy and provide consultation to both individual practitioners and DBT consultation teams to help providers improve their DBT practice.
I have held many roles at the Behavioral Tech Institute. I serves as the Director of Faculty Development mentoring individuals on the pathway to becoming BTech Institute Trainers and Consultants. Before that, I worked for 5 years as the Content Development Specialist. In this capacity I worked to advance the development, improvement, and provision of Behavioral Tech’s training and consulting services. I worked with Behavioral Tech to develop a Comprehensive Online Training in order to increase therapist access to training to provide this life saving mental health treatment. I have also served the BTech institute in the past by organizing educational opportunities that enable our distinguished trainers to maintain and improve their capacity to deliver outstanding training and consultation in DBT. I still provide consultation on training development to the Behavioral Tech Institute when invited.
Clinical Practice
I am a Licensed Psychologist and DBT-Linehan Board of Certification certified clinician. I see clients as part of my role as the director of a training clinic. Occasionally, I see clients in private practice. I practice from a cognitive behavioral orientation. I work with clients to outline specific steps to help them get closer to their goals. Unfortunately, my caseload is currently full and I am not currently taking new clients in my private practice.
DBT Consultation
I work with individuals and teams seeking expert consultation to improve their adherent delivery of DBT. Typically, I answer consultation questions about DBT for licensed professionals and teams, review video recordings of therapy sessions to provide specific feedback, and support therapists in case formulation and treatment strategy. This can be helpful as people prepare for DBT-LBC certification.
Anti-Racism in DBT Consultation
I work with DBT teams who have assessed that they need additional guidance to be able to deliver treatment that adequately addresses the impact of racism and ethnocentrism on their clients. I work with these teams to help them think through the strategies and principles of the treatment as well as specific skills to improve the effectiveness of treatment for clients by improving understanding of the context of racial identity and the impact of bias. I also provide support in reviewing clinical practices to enhance equity in treatment delivery.
Mentorship
Along with training, I believe that mental health professionals need mentorship to find a path that aligns with their values, skills, and goals. I have met many people at different junctures in their careers and have begun to consult using my experiences as a clinician, content expert, supervisor, and trainer to help them think through how to become engaged in work that helps them find meaning and fulfillment. My passion for mentorship is not limited to trainees, nor is it limited by race or gender. Women and trainees of color often have difficulty finding mentorship that validates the unique struggles they face in building a life and career, and given my own experiences I find offering my support to these individuals especially meaningful.
“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”