DBT
Abbreviation with 4 meanings
| Stands for | Dialectical behavior therapy |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 4 |
| Categories | Medical, Government & Politics, Technology & Computing |
| Also written | dbt |
DBT has four meanings. The most common are Dialectical behavior therapy (mental health & psychiatry) and Digital breast tomosynthesis (medical imaging); it can also stand for Department for Business and Trade and data build tool.
Meanings of DBT at a glance
| # | DBT stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dialectical behavior therapy | Medical › Mental Health & Psychiatry |
| 2 | Digital breast tomosynthesis | Medical › Medical Imaging |
| 3 | Department for Business and Trade | Government & Politics › UK Government |
| 4 | data build tool | Technology & Computing › Data & Database |
1. Dialectical behavior therapy
Medical · Mental Health & Psychiatry Abbreviations · also used in science
Comprehensive psychotherapy combining cognitive-behavioral techniques with mindfulness and acceptance, originally developed for chronically suicidal people with borderline personality disorder. Standard DBT includes individual therapy, weekly skills groups, between-session phone coaching and a therapist consultation team.
Example: Completed DBT skills module on distress tolerance; self-harm frequency down from weekly to none in 2 months.
Psychologist Marsha Linehan developed DBT in the late 1980s and published its treatment manual in 1993. The four skills modules are mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. "Dialectical" refers to balancing acceptance and change. Adapted versions exist for adolescents, eating disorders and substance use. In radiology DBT means digital breast tomosynthesis.
2. Digital breast tomosynthesis
Medical · Medical Imaging Abbreviations
Mammography technique that takes multiple low-dose images as the X-ray tube sweeps in an arc and reconstructs thin slices through the breast, reducing the tissue overlap that can hide cancers or create false alarms. It is widely marketed as 3D mammography.
Example: Screening DBT: no suspicious findings, BI-RADS 1.
The FDA approved the first tomosynthesis system in 2011. Studies show DBT finds more cancers and lowers recall rates compared with 2D mammography, particularly in dense breasts. Synthesized 2D images reconstructed from the tomosynthesis data can replace a separate 2D exposure, keeping total dose similar.
3. Department for Business and Trade
Government & Politics · UK Government Abbreviations
UK department created in February 2023 to support businesses, negotiate trade deals, promote exports and set policy on employment law, competition and corporate governance.
Example: DBT published guidance for exporters on the new tariff arrangements.
It merged the Department for International Trade with the business functions of the former BEIS. Its responsibilities include the UK's accession to the CPTPP trade pact and trade agreements with countries such as India. Companies House and the Insolvency Service are among its agencies.
4. data build tool (dbt)
Technology & Computing · Data & Database Abbreviations
An open-source tool that lets analysts and engineers transform data inside a warehouse by writing SQL SELECT statements as version-controlled models, with dependencies, tests and documentation generated automatically.
Example: Add a dbt test so the pipeline fails if any order has a null customer_id.
Created at the consultancy Fishtown Analytics, which renamed itself dbt Labs in 2020; the company insists on the lowercase name. It helped define the "analytics engineer" role and the ELT-centered modern data stack. Models are Jinja-templated SQL compiled and run in Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks and other warehouses.
Related abbreviations
More mental health & psychiatry abbreviations
- CBT – Cognitive behavioral therapy
- CD – Conduct disorder
- CPT – Cognitive processing therapy
- CUD – Cannabis use disorder
- DID – Dissociative identity disorder
- DMDD – Disruptive mood dysregulation disorder
- DSM-5 – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition
- DTs – Delirium tremens
See all 100 mental health & psychiatry abbreviations →
More medical imaging abbreviations
- CTP – Computed tomography perfusion
- CTPA – Computed tomography pulmonary angiography
- CTU – Computed tomography urography
- CXR – Chest X-ray
- DEXA – Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry
- DICOM – Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine
- DSA – Digital subtraction angiography
- DWI – Diffusion-weighted imaging
See all 58 medical imaging abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.