- Basic premise: Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy or RO DBT significantly differs from other treatment approaches, most notably by linking the communicative functions of emotional expression to the formation of close social bonds and via skills targeting social-signaling, openness and flexible responding. RO DBT is the first treatment in the world to prioritize social-signaling as the primary mechanism of change.
- Essence of therapy: RO DBT is a transdiagnostic treatment targeting a spectrum of disorders characterized by excessive inhibitory control or overcontrol (OC). Overcontrol is associated with social isolation, loneliness, poor interpersonal functioning, and severe and difficult-to-treat mental health problems, such as anorexia nervosa, chronic depression, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (e.g., Lynch & Cheavens, 2008; Zucker et al., 2007). Individuals with disorders of overcontrol are often quietly suffering, even though their suffering may not be apparent. RO DBT treatment involves both individual treatment sessions and skills training classes and centers around five OC themes: inhibited and disingenuous emotional expression; hyper-detailed focused and overly cautious behavior; rigid and rule-governed behavior; aloof and distant style of relating; and high social comparison and envy/bitterness.
- Length: The recommended and researched duration for outpatient treatment is approximately 30 weeks of concurrent individual RO DBT therapy sessions and skills training classes.
Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Disorders of Overcontrol
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