RADICALLY OPEN DBT (RO DBT)
"We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are"
~ Anaïs Nin, French author, (quote of Talmudic origin).
WHAT IS RO DBT?
Based on over 20 years of research, RO DBT is an exciting new evidence-based therapy developed by Professor Tom Lynch. The treatment incorporates the core principle of dialectics seen in the standard DBT model, but targets difficulties associated with excessive self-control which can lead to many difficult-to-treat conditions including chronic anxiety, treatment-resistant depression, and anorexia nervosa.
RO DBT has been found to be particularly effective in treating problems including (but not limited to!) rigid and obsessive behaviours, rumination, perfectionism, and the interpersonal problems that these issues often result in.
RO DBT CLINICS UK
The UK's only full-package RO DBT programme in independent practice
I currently run a 30-week RO DBT Skills Class, co-facilitated with my colleagues Helen Brice and Ian Wootton. Skills classes are hosted online via Zoom between 7pm and 9pm on Thursday evenings.
Clients can join the skills class at any point during the cycle and continue for 30 weeks from the time of joining. Clients engaged in the full RO DBT programme also attend additional weekly individual therapy sessions.
For more information about our programme, email me directly at enquiries@alexfowke.co.uk
HOW RO DBT COULD HELP YOU
RO DBT considers the fundamental problem experienced by clients who are emotionally over-controlled to be that of 'emotional loneliness', as opposed to the emotionally dysregulated/under-controlled population for which standard DBT is so effective.
RO DBT teaches specific skills that can help you develop a greater awareness of yourself through self-inquiry, spotting problematic social signalling that seem to keep you feeling as though you're in complete control, but which ultimately keep you stuck in your pain. It can be a particularly helpful therapeutic approach if you tend to 'bottle up' your emotions or keep the way you feel hidden from others, guiding you towards feeling more socially connected, identifying and addressing some of the difficulties that stop you from having more meaningful relationships, and why you might struggle to feel close to other people.
Using RO DBT skills, I can help you to notice when your behaviour is governed by a fixed set of rules that are preventing you from living the life that you want for yourself, or when your relationships are influenced by strong feelings of bitterness, resentment, anger, fear or envy.
By addressing some of these difficulties, it is possible that you can free yourself from depression and other psychological difficulties associated with rigid behaviours, repair distant relationships, become less sensitive to threat and criticism, and become more emotionally expressive, as well as adjust any other problems associated with a powerful drive to be in control.
Clients with difficulties associated with emotional over-control tend to have a limited behavioural repertoire and struggle to engage in new or unfamiliar experiences. I can teach you the skills to help you to become more playful and spontaneous, and to cope with the anxiety that we can all feel when we find ourselves out of our 'comfort zone'.
Freedom from these difficulties does not mean abandoning a previously relied-upon set of rules and ways of behaving. Instead, I can encourage you to develop greater flexibility, so that you can notice when your rules are working to your advantage, and when they are causing more problems than they solve. For example, a perfectionistic style can be extremely effective in terms of achieving academic excellence and progressing through your career, but might remove any spontaneity from your personal life, possibly for fear of getting things wrong or feeling embarrassed in front of other people. RO DBT would aim to teach you to retain the fundamentals of the rule but be more flexible with when the rule is applied and when not.
