Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Can you have too much of a “good” thing? As stated on this fact sheet by the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT):

…(O)vercontrol works well when it comes to sitting quietly in school or building a rocket; but it creates problems when it comes to social relationships.

Enter RO DBT. RO DBT is a comprehensive behavioral treatment that centers around “radical openness” - the willingness to doubt or question the way we view and perceive the world without decompensating. This challenge of self helps address loneliness, isolation, and misery seen in individuals with OC by creating opportunities to enhance social connectedness.

Rather than attempting to get rid of OC coping, the treatment helps individuals learn to embrace and relinquish tendencies toward overcontrol, to be more flexible depending on the situation.

Fully adherent treatment involves individual therapy, skills training class, phone consultation (optional), and therapist RO DBT consultation (optional).

• Skills training class - individuals learn new skills for the week and are assigned homework to practice those skills. Skills training class is didactic, highly structured, and teaches skills in mindfulness, and interpersonal effectiveness.

  • mindfulness - self-inquire and explore the ways you view the world with curiosity to develop healthy self-doubt and increase mental flexibility

  • interpersonal effectiveness - decrease loneliness and misery by learning about social signaling and other skills to connect socially with others

At Coastal Art Therapy Services, we currently offer the skills training class, led by Lisa C. Thomas, LPC, ATR-BC who is level II trained in RO DBT blended learning program. Art-based interventions will also be offered throughout the group to reiterate the skills. Please contact us if you would like to know more!

For more information on RO DBT, check out radicallyopen.net.

References:

Lynch, R.T. (2018). Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Theory and Practice for Treating Disorders of Overcontrol. Reno, NV: Context Press, an imprint of New Harbinger Publications.

Lynch, R.T. (2018). The Skills Training Manual for Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Clinician’s Guide for Treating Disorders of Overcontrol. Revo, NV: Context Press, an imprint of New Harbinger Publications.