Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy

Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT)

Why so many acronyms in mental health?  I ask myself this almost daily.  At any rate, RO DBT is a newish type of therapy I think will be life changing for many clients.

Never heard of it

What do I mean by newish?  It's been researched for over 20 years, but the manual just came out in early 2018.  This is an exciting time.  If you've done standard DBT and it didn't work well, it's very possible RO DBT will work much better.  As standard DBT is for more mood dependent types of conditions, RO DBT is for more overcontrolled or distress overtolerance type of individuals.

Overcontrolled?

I'm totally one of those and REALLY wish this therapy had been around about 30 years ago.  It would have made my elementary years even better and I would have learned at a much younger age to not take myself so seriously.  If you find yourself excellent at controlling emotions, check out this therapy.  However, if you use this skill to beat your brother at eating a Warhead and not making a face first, please continue ;). Other issues may be being scrupulous about details and highly attentive to inconsistencies.   Just like broccoli, you can have TOO much of a good thing.  RO DBT isn't about changing who you are at all.  It's about finding a good balance in those special skills you are already have and making them work FOR you instead of against you.

Meredith Riddick is intensively trained in RO DBT and really enjoys working with clients who fit into these types of overcontrolled categories.  RO DBT is a playful sort of therapy where you learn to do a few important things.  This may mean learning to take yourself just a little less seriously.  It may also include accepting disconfirming feedback in a more flexible way.  It also means, *gasp,* finding ways to be open to perspectives other than your own.  Won't this be fun???