Radically Open DBT was created by Thomas Lynch to help clients who struggle with over-control behaviors.  In his research, he found that this was often a population of clients that got missed in treatment because on the outside, they looked high functioning and are often high achievers in the world.  However, they were struggling internally with symptoms of anxiety, hypervigilance, all-or-none thinking, rumination and feelings of loneliness.   Therefore, the curriculum used in RO-DBT addresses clients who have more over-control behaviors in the form of perfectionism, rigid thinking and avoidance behaviors, difficulty being vulnerable, may find mistakes intolerable and therefore have harsh judgments towards self or others, and obsessive compulsive behaviors.

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The skills taught in RO-DBT are to help clients learn to connect with others in a deeper way and decrease feelings of loneliness, explore how the emotion of shame manifests itself and how to work through it, gain insight on how to use more flexible thinking, and learn to adapt to new situations.

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Personally, I have found it beneficial for my clients to learn the standard DBT skills first in order to learn to be more mindful and regulate emotions and then attend RO-DBT to address the over-control behaviors.   Often times once clients decrease their avoidance behaviors and learn to do new things in relationships or the environment through their work in RO-DBT, the DBT skills come in handy to help them gain confidence in these new situations.   

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The RO-DBT skills group lasts 30 weeks and is highly recommended for clients who want to gain more skills to address over-control behaviors after they complete the standard DBT skills group.  

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If you would like to learn more about why RO-DBT was created and what it is designed to do, please watch the seven minute introductory video with Thomas Lynch.  

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