Have your friends or loved ones suggested for you to chill out or relax? If our first podcast episode with Hope Arnold, about excessive self-control, leaves you wondering how to help with this biologically-based personality trait, then keep listening! Join Debbie for another engaging discussion with Hope Arnold, senior clinician, and trainer in Radically Open Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (RO DBT), for evidence-based strategies on how to work with “over-controlling” biology in the service of loosening up a bit, more fulfilling relationships, and gaining the capacity to just chill!
Listen and Learn:
- Why eyebrows are important and too much Botox might be a problem.
- The benefits of being “ordinary,” being wrong, and seeing what hard experiences can teach us about ourselves.
- How our threat and safety systems play into overcontrol and treatment
- The importance of “social signaling”
- How “Radical Openness” differs from “Radical Acceptance”
Resources:
- Hope’s blogs on Psych Central and Radically Open.net
- Hope’s webpage
- Radically Open.net
- Radically-Open DBT Textbook and Skills Training Manual
- Take the Styles of Coping Word Pairs Questionnaire here
- Article on RO-DBT effectiveness
About Hope Arnold:

Hope Arnold, LCSW, MA is a Senior Clinician and one-day Trainer in Radically Open DBT (RO DBT). She began her RO DBT training with Dr. Tom Lynch, treatment developer, in 2016. Hope writes a blog for PsychCentral on RO DBT topics called Radical Hope. In her clinical work, Hope is the founder of RO DBT Denver in Denver, Colorado, a center dedicated to evidence-based care and treating disorders of overcontrol. She specializes in personality disorders (Obsessive Compulsive PD, Paranoid PD, Dependent PD, Avoidant PD), eating disorders, autism spectrum disorders (special interest in female autism), and treatment-resistant disorders (depression and anxiety). Prior to opening RO DBT Denver, Hope was in private practice at the DBT Center of Houston and was the RO DBT Lead Clinician. Hope graduated from Loyola University in New Orleans with a BBA in marketing. She worked for two of the largest private financial and consulting firms in the world before transitioning to clinical work. She has master’s degrees in social work from the University of Houston and psychology from Saybrook University with a concentration in Jungian studies. Hope has presented at the local, national, and international level on topics related to Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Radically Open DBT, and Jungian Analysis and Theory. She is licensed as an LCSW in the states of Colorado, Texas, and Virginia. For fun, Hope enjoys hiking, traveling, visiting with friends and family, and creating art.
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Thank you so much for your podcast. I listen to each episode at least twice. This one is of particular interest for me in my career at the moment as I work as an OT in a mental institute where DBT is taught to everyone in groups . Many of my clients leave the group, feeling they do not belong.
Could you please tell me the tests that you mentionned at the end of the episode that help determine who would benefit from an RO-DBT group ? THank your so much, for your reply and for the great pleasure that I have listening to your podcast.
Hi Anne! Thank you so much for listening to the podcast! I’m glad to hear RO-DBT has sparked an interest for you. I asked Hope Arnold, she recommended checking out the http://www.radicallyopen.net website, where they have information about the tests and research. The RO-DBT textbook also has information about which tests to use to determined if an individual has an overcontrolled coping style and might be appropriate for an RO-DBT group. The radicallyopen.net website also has the first part of blended learning available if you want to learn more.
I hope that’s helpful!
Yes, very helpful. Thanks 🙂