About the Author

Marsha M. Linehan, PhD, ABPP, is the developer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy and a professor of psychology, adjunct professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, and director of the Behavioral Research and Therapy Clinics at the University of Washington. Her primary research interest is in the development and evaluation of evidence-based treatments for populations with high suicide risk and multiple severe mental disorders. Dr. Linehan’s contributions to suicide research and clinical psychology research have been recognized with numerous awards, including the Gold Medal Award for Life Achievement in the Application of Psychology from the American Psychological Foundation, the Scientific Research Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Career/Lifetime Achievement award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and the Grawemeyer Award for Psychology. In 2018, Dr. Linehan was featured in a special issue of Time magazine, “Great Scientists: The Geniuses and Visionaries Who Transformed Our World.”

Reviews

“Shocking and heart-wrenching on one end, triumphant on the other, and an inspiration of hope all the way through.”—Goop

“In Building a Life Worth Living, Marsha Linehan shares her experience of suicidal depression to help others who may be experiencing this themselves or in someone they love. Since using what happens to us to help others is the final stage of healing, this book is a victory on both sides of the page.”—Gloria Steinem, New York Times bestselling author of My Life on the Road

“A brilliant memoir by one of the greatest pioneers in psychotherapy history . . . Marsha Linehan holds absolutely nothing back, making good on the vow she made as a young woman to escape hell and help others do the same. This book—in its fierce honesty and, for the careful reader, its practical advice—will help anyone who has struggled to build a life worth living.”—Angela Duckworth, New York Times bestselling author of Grit

“To read this book is to understand how a life is built. In dark, there is light. Everything in Marsha Linehan’s life and remarkable memoir uncovers the dark—the hell of the unhappy self and the hell of inadequate help—and brings us into the light, with humor and detail in describing her grappling and growth, and her courage and vision of how to create a treatment for even the most unhappy of us.”—Amy Bloom, New York Times bestselling author of White Houses

“Powerful and intimate . . . Linehan ably guides readers along her roller-coaster life as she conquers the male-dominated world of academia while hiding her physical and emotional scars. . . . Readers looking to overcome their past will find inspiration in this dramatic, heartfelt narrative.”—Publishers Weekly

“Practical and engaging . . . Linehan leads readers through her life and details how key moments brought her to develop DBT [Dialectical Behavior Therapy], bringing mindfulness into psychotherapy. Weaving the instructive with the personal, she alternates anecdotes with universal tools for approaching life with a combination of acceptance and motivation to change.”—Booklist

“Gripping . . . An inspiring account of healing and helping.”—Kirkus Reviews