Disclaimer: I do not practice “pure” DBT or “pure” RO-DBT (e.g. I do not offer skills classes, follow manualized treatment protocols, nor provide support outside of scheduled sessions).
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT) are kinds of therapy (“modalities”) with the same background, with same overall goal: to build a life worth living. DBT’s primary method is by increasing emotional regulation; RO-DBT’s primary method is by moving toward and through emotional dysregulation.
Both modalities focus on distress tolerance, mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, and decreasing loneliness. I might use DBT with clients experiencing severe symptoms of anxiety or depression or seeking to build, or improve, their emotional regulation skills. I might use RO-DBT with clients struggling with emotional disconnection and loneliness, anxiety, chronic depression, eating disorders, or other symptoms of overcontrol.
I pull from the following published works:
- The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook: Practical DBT Exercises for Learning Mindfulness, Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotional Regulation, and Distress Tolerance (McKay, Wood, & Brantley, 2019)
- Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Theory and Practice for Treating Disorders of Overcontrol (Lynch, 2018)
- The Skills Training Manual for Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Clinician’s Guide for Treating Disorders of Overcontrol (Lynch, 2018)
- The Radically Open DBT Workbook for Eating Disorders: From Overcontrol and Loneliness to Recovery and Connection (Hall, Astrachan-Fletcher & Simic, 2022)
