Mary Knight, director of The Life Worth Living Project, has good news to share this Suicide Prevention Month: A treatment exists that has been shown to reduce both suicide attempts and hospitalizations for suicidal ideation: Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).
“This well-researched treatment has been available to some in the Upstate since 2001,” Knight said. “But it has not been available to the community at large because they either don’t know it exists, can’t afford it or they have to be on a long waiting list because of a shortage of providers.”
The Life Worth Living Project (TLWLP), launched in November 2025, brings a vision of hope and a path to address these needs with community support.
The project began when engaged community members voiced concerns about limited DBT access to the Greenville DBT Collective, a group of local practitioners providing the therapy. The group identified barriers to care and ways to address them.
First, TLWLP began sponsoring events to raise community awareness of DBT. With seed funding from the Graham Foundation – facilitated by Community Foundation of Greenville – it began covering some costs for patients in treatment who would not otherwise be able to afford it.
To augment the number of providers, the nonprofit offers scholarships for therapists to receive DBT training, and has added a team mentor to support therapists in the program.
The need remains: According to USA Facts, South Carolina’s suicide rate is higher than the national average, and over the last 20 years has risen at an 11.7% higher rate. Mental Health America’s 2024 national data ranks South Carolina 49th out of 50 states for access to mental health care.
One parent, who remains involved wth TLWLP, said her family had to wait nine fearful months for treatment for their middle school aged child who was self-harming. Around that time, they were aware of several local teens who took their own lives.
“We knew we were lucky, and we knew we needed to shorten the wait for this therapy. It is not a luxury,” she said. “It gave us all the tools we need not just to help our daughter, who is a healthy young adult now, but for all of us.”
DBT has proven useful for helping clients deal with strong emotions, including those that could lead to self-harm, Knight said. TLWLP promotes a comprehensive DBT model, including individual and group therapy, coaching calls between sessions and a consultation team for therapists.
“Comprehensive DBT is intensive and takes a substantial time commitment from families, but it’s what works,” Knight said. “Our goal is to engage the public to help us implement and sustain plans to eliminate these barriers to treatment so that every person can create a life worth living.”
For more information, visit thelifeworthlivingproject.org.
