Authors Archive

Say Goodbye to Paper Diary Cards for RO DBT

Whether you are new to Radically Open DBT (RO DBT), in the middle of therapy, or you’ve been through the whole program, you know that diary cards are an essential part of RO DBT. They help track our behavior targets, including social signaling. One of the challenging parts of diary cards is that paper copies […]

Compulsive Striving in a time of COVID

Well, as it turns out, I have a super fan of my blog postings! Her name is Judy, and yes, she is my mom (Hi mom!). She mentioned in passing that she had not seen a blog post in a while on this site. I told her that since the pandemic hit the globe, not […]

Sneaky Work Strikes Again!

As a card carrying OC, I find reward in accomplishing tasks. Vacations and time off are a challenge. I’ve written book chapters in Hawaii and the outer banks of North Carolina, staring at my computer screen while breathtakingly beautiful beaches are just a few feet away. I’ve answered mundane emails while in Japan, and spent […]

Sorry, Not Sorry

As the pandemic began and quarantine started, I noticed feeling more on edge and being easily irritated by anything out of place in my house. I was working a lot as many of my clients were struggling with the adjustment and trying to figure out technology issues of doing therapy online. I was also processing […]

Busting the Loneliness Cycle

Here’s a great blog by Hope Arnold: Busting the Loneliness Cycle. “Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RODBT), thinks that the cure for loneliness is to build tribe, community, and connection,[…] So how do you start building a friend?” Read more here: https://www.rodbtdenver.com/post/busting-the-loneliness-cycle About the Author: Hope Arnold, LCSW, MA Hope Arnold is the owner of RO […]

The Unhelpful Helper

As we know maladaptive social signals are behaviors that can be witnessed by others in such a way that they keep us out of the tribe. In RO DBT social signals are posited as a unique and powerful mechanism of change. Social signaling targets are often habits, something we have done for a long time […]

Using Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT) To Treat Problems Of Overcontrol

Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO DBT), developed by Dr. Thomas R. Lynch, is a new treatment that has been developed and tested to address excessive self-control, or overcontrol [1]. RO DBT is a transdiagnostic treatment indicated for patients with diagnoses of chronic depression, treatment-resistant anxiety disorders, anorexia nervosa, autism spectrum disorders, and Cluster A and C personality […]

The Secret Key

I want to get out of here. I was at a book event that included one of my favorite authors. I had been invited by good friends of mine and I was thrilled at the prospect of seeing Glennon Doyle Melton in person. The evening, however, was going much longer than I had anticipated and […]

Signaling Trust

The other morning, as I was drinking my coffee and reading the news, I came across an article describing how many parents are now monitoring, and yes controlling, their college kids’ movements via the app Life360. I was somewhat horrified reading the article, but could understand the pull. I lean OC and began to learn […]

OC Approach coping out of control!

I would like to think that I am not “into” my phone. And I don’t mean the rotary phone in my house that we wow the neighbourhood kids with 🙂 I am referring to my cell phone. Perhaps I have some secret pride about this, BTW, but I guess it is not so secret if […]

Doing Flexible-Mind REVEALS in the heat of the moment

Funny enough, one of my favorite things to do with my partner is ride in the car. Anywhere, everywhere; the longer the better. The ride gives us ample opportunity to talk and enjoy each other’s company with minimal distractions. However, one day it also proved to be an opportunity to practice my RO DBT skills. […]

From Rivals to Friends

I grew up with several sisters, and we were all very competitive in nature. I have distinct memories of the ways that we tried to gain advantage over one another and perceive that we were “winning.” We would make every little thing into a competition. Our contests ranged from who could arrange food on our […]