The Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy Workbook

Radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RO DBT) is a groundbreaking, transdiagnostic treatment model for clients with difficult-to-treat overcontrol (OC) disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, chronic depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Written by the founder of RO DBT, Thomas Lynch, this is the first and only session-by-session training manual to help you implement this evidence-based therapy in your practice. As a clinician, you’re familiar with dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) and its success in treating clients with emotion dysregulation disorders. But what about clients with overcontrol disorders? OC has been linked to social isolation, aloof and distant relationships, cognitive rigidity, risk aversion, a strong need for structure, inhibited emotional expression, and hyper-perfectionism. And yet—perhaps due to the high value our society places on the capacity to delay gratification and inhibit public displays of destructive emotions and impulses—problems linked with OC have received little attention or been misunderstood. Indeed, people with OC are often considered highly successful by others, even as they suffer silently and alone. RO DBT is based on the premise that psychological well-being involves the confluence of three factors: receptivity, flexibility, and social-connectedness. RO DBT addresses each of these important factors, and is the first treatment in the world to prioritize social-signaling as the primary mechanism of change based on a transdiagnostic, neuroregulatory model linking the communicative function of human emotions to the establishment of social connectedness and well-being. As such, RO DBT is an invaluable resource for treating an array of disorders that center around overcontrol and a lack of social connectedness—such as anorexia nervosa, chronic depression, postpartum depression, treatment-resistant anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorders, as well as personality disorders such as avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive, and paranoid personality disorder. In this training manual, you’ll find an outline of RO DBT, including history, research, and how it differs from traditional DBT. You’ll also find a session-by-session RO DBT outpatient treatment protocol, with sections that outline the weekly, one-hour individual therapy sessions and weekly two-and-a-half hour skills training classes that occur over a period of approximately thirty weeks. This includes instructor guidelines and user-friendly worksheets. The feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of RO DBT is evidence-based and informed by over twenty years of translational treatment development research. This important manual—along with its companion book, Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (available separately), distills the essential components of RO DBT into a workable program you can start using right away to improve treatment outcomes for clients suffering with OC.

Based on over twenty years of research, radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RO DBT) is a breakthrough, transdiagnostic approach for helping people suffering from extremely difficult-to-treat emotional overcontrol (OC) disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and treatment-resistant depression. Written by the founder of RO DBT, Thomas Lynch, this comprehensive volume outlines the core theories of RO DBT, and provides a framework for implementing RO DBT in individual therapy. While traditional dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) has shown tremendous success in treating people with emotion dysregulation, there have been few resources available for treating those with overcontrol disorders. OC has been linked to social isolation, aloof and distant relationships, cognitive rigidity, risk aversion, a strong need for structure, inhibited emotional expression, and hyper-perfectionism. And yet—perhaps due to the high value our society places on the capacity to delay gratification and inhibit public displays of destructive emotions and impulses—problems linked with OC have received little attention or been misunderstood. Indeed, people with OC are often considered highly successful by others, even as they suffer silently and alone. RO DBT is based on the premise that psychological well-being involves the confluence of three factors: receptivity, flexibility, and social-connectedness. RO DBT addresses each of these important factors, and is the first treatment in the world to prioritize social-signaling as the primary mechanism of change based on a transdiagnostic, neuroregulatory model linking the communicative function of human emotions to the establishment of social connectedness and well-being. As such, RO DBT is an invaluable resource for treating an array of disorders that center around overcontrol and a lack of social connectedness—such as anorexia nervosa, chronic depression, postpartum depression, treatment-resistant anxiety disorders, autism spectrum disorders, as well as personality disorders such as avoidant, dependent, obsessive-compulsive, and paranoid personality disorder. Written for mental health professionals, professors, or simply those interested in behavioral health, this seminal book—along with its companion, The Skills Training Manual for Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (available separately)—provides everything you need to understand and implement this exciting new treatment in individual therapy—including theory, history, research, ongoing studies, clinical examples, and future directions.

Radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RO DBT) is a breakthrough, evidence-based treatment supported by twenty years of clinical research, and targets a spectrum of disorders characterized by excessive emotional overcontrol (OC)--including depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, eating disorders, and more. People with OC struggle to express vulnerability and build emotional connection, leading to loneliness, perfectionism, and isolation. This groundbreaking workbook offers readers skills to encourage strong social connections as a powerful tool for recovery.

At the root of bulimia is a need to feel in control. While purging is a strategy for controlling weight, bingeing is an attempt to calm depression, stress, shame, and even boredom. The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Bulimia offers new and healthy ways to overcome the distressing feelings and negative body-image beliefs that keep you trapped in this cycle. In this powerful program used by therapists, you'll learn four key skill sets-mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness-and begin using them right away to manage bulimic urges. The book includes worksheets and exercises designed to help you take charge of your emotions and end your dependence on bulimia. You'll also learn how to stay motivated and committed to ending bulimia instead of reverting to old behaviors. Used together, the skills presented in this workbook will help you begin to cope with uncomfortable feelings in healthy ways, empower you to feel good about nourishing your body, and finally gain true control over your life.

A groundbreaking workbook to help you develop healthy coping strategies, build a solid support network, and stay on the path to recovery. If you’ve been in therapy for an eating disorder, such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, your past treatment may have focused on helping you control your emotions and contain your behaviors. However, research now shows that many people with eating disorders actually suffer from emotional overcontrol. Based on more than twenty years of research, this breakthrough workbook offers skills based in radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RO DBT), a proven-effective, transdiagnostic approach for treating disorders of overcontrol (OC). With this compassionate workbook, you’ll learn how to move beyond the unhealthy coping strategies that keep you feeling isolated and lonely, find tips for building a solid support network and enriching social connections, and develop your own personalized plan for staying on the path to recovery. You’ll also find assessments to help you determine the root cause of your OC disorder, exercises for increasing social engagement, and skills for improving social flexibility, trust, and intimacy. Having an eating disorder can make you feel like you’re alone in the world. Even if you’re in recovery, you may have days when feelings of isolation are too much, and you may feel tempted to fall back into unhealthy patterns of eating or restrictive eating. This workbook will help you build your own “treatment tribe,” a group of people that help lift you up and support you as you find your way to a full recovery and a rich, meaningful life.

This groundbreaking book gives clinicians a new set of tools for helping clients overcome binge-eating disorder and bulimia. Featuring vivid case examples and 30 reproducibles, the book shows how to put an end to binge eating and purging by teaching clients more adaptive ways to manage painful emotions.

A clear and effective approach to learning evidence-based DBT skills—now in a fully revised and updated second edition. Do you have trouble managing your emotions? First developed by Marsha M. Linehan for treating borderline personality disorder, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has proven effective as treatment for a range of other mental health problems, and can greatly improve your ability to handle distress without losing control and acting destructively. However, to make use of these techniques, you need to build skills in four key areas: distress tolerance, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook, a collaborative effort from three esteemed authors, offers evidence-based, step-by-step exercises for learning these concepts and putting them to work for real and lasting change. Start by working on the introductory exercises and, after making progress, move on to the advanced-skills chapters. Whether you’re a mental health professional or a general reader, you'll benefit from this clear and practical guide to better managing your emotions. This fully revised and updated second edition also includes new chapters on cognitive rehearsal, distress tolerance, and self-compassion. Once you’ve completed the exercises in this book and are ready to move on to the next level, check out the authors’ new book, The New Happiness Workbook.

People with normal eating patterns eat when they are hungry and stop when they are full. But people struggling with binge eating relate very differently to this most basic need, often risking depression, gastrointestinal problems, and even death because of their problems with food. The Appetite Awareness Workbook offers an eight-week, cognitively based program to help you learn to pay attention to hunger cues, keep track of your feelings about food, and develop an eating schedule that discourages binge eating. In a series of easy exercises, the book guides you toward taking control of eating habits. First, gradual changes help you eat only when hungry or when a mealtime is scheduled. Then, awareness exercises help you stop eating when moderately full. Finally, by using cognitive techniques to control the tendency to eat for emotional reasons and journaling exercises to stay motivated and on track, you'll learn how to retrain yourself to maintain normal and healthy eating habits for life.