How do I get my loved one into treatment?

Start with a calm, caring conversation expressing specific concerns. Offer to help research treatment options. Consider the CRAFT method (Community Reinforcement and Family Training), which has a 64-74% success rate. A professional intervention is another option if they refuse.

Should I do an intervention?

Professional interventions have an 80-90% success rate in getting the person to accept treatment. Consider an intervention when your loved one denies the problem, has refused repeated suggestions to get help, and consequences are escalating.

Modern treatments

The difference between DBT and RO-DBT: Which do you need?

Published July 10, 2025 · 7 min read · Last updated April 2026

Reviewed for accuracy — Written and reviewed by licensed clinical professionals. Editorial process.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is one of the most widely used evidence-based treatments in behavioral health. But there's a newer variant — Radically Open DBT (RO-DBT) — designed for a fundamentally different set of problems. Understanding the distinction matters because receiving the wrong one can be ineffective or counterproductive.

Standard DBT: For under-control

Standard DBT was developed by Marsha Linehan for borderline personality disorder and is now used broadly for conditions involving emotional dysregulation, impulsivity, and behavioral under-control. It's effective for people who experience intense, difficult-to-manage emotions, engage in self-harm or suicidal behavior, have impulsive or chaotic interpersonal patterns, struggle with substance use driven by emotional reactivity, and feel emotions too intensely and act on them too quickly. Standard DBT teaches skills in mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness.

RO-DBT: For over-control

RO-DBT targets the opposite end of the spectrum — conditions characterized by excessive self-control, emotional inhibition, and rigidity. It's designed for treatment-resistant depression, anorexia nervosa, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, and autism spectrum conditions where social signaling is a core challenge. People who benefit from RO-DBT tend to appear "put together" on the outside but feel isolated and disconnected, suppress emotions rather than express them, are perfectionistic and risk-averse, have difficulty with flexibility and spontaneity, and struggle to form close relationships despite wanting connection.

Why the distinction matters

Teaching emotional suppression skills (standard DBT's distress tolerance) to someone who already over-controls their emotions can make them worse. Teaching emotional expression and social signaling (RO-DBT) to someone who is already emotionally dysregulated could be destabilizing. Getting the right assessment and the right type of DBT is clinically important. Ask your clinician or treatment facility specifically which type they offer and why it's appropriate for your situation.