Overview
- Updated On:
- May 21, 2023
Description
Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Centered Ground began providing radically open dialectical behavior therapy (RO-DBT) in 2014, the first in Southern California to offer this groundbreaking approach. Directed by Dr. Angela Klein, part of the first intensively trained U.S. cohort completed by treatment developer Dr. Thomas Lynch, Centered Ground remains the only intensively trained program in the San Diego area. RO-DBT is the most current adaptation of traditional DBT for individuals who struggle with patterns overcontrolled behavior and emotional inhibition, including restricting eating disorders (e.g., anorexia nervosa), pervasive anxiety disorders, and chronic depression. RO DBT provides psychoeducation and tools to address the underlying neurobiology behind these patterns, to facilitate greater self-understanding, compassion, and desired connection in relationships. The program is based on the research of Dr. Thomas Lynch over the past 20 years. Skills training occurs in a weekly two-hour class, as well as private sessions. In 2018 Mia Najor joined the team, completing intensive training, as well.
Mindfulness & DBT for Disordered Eating
Centered Ground also specializes in DBT-based treatment for disordered eating and body image, including individual therapy, coaching calls, and group skills training. This approach has research support for its effectiveness, in particular, for binge eating and bulimia nervosa, including studies conducted by Dr. Klein (Klein, Skinner, & Hawley, 2012; 2013). This approach fosters an open, nonjudgmental stance towards food and eating, increasing compassion and letting go of guilt and shame. Skills training is based on clinical fit and ranges from 6 months for mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance to 30 weeks for radical openness. Coaching calls between sessions help apply material to real life in the face of urges and challenging situations. To develop this approach, beginning in 2007, Dr. Klein consulted with Dr. Debra Safer at Stanford, who has been one of the leading researchers in the field on DBT adapted for eating disorders. Dr. Klein is the only provider of this research-based protocol in the greater San Diego area. Her book on this approach, “Mindful Eating from the Dialectical Perspective: Research and Application,” available through Routledge and Amazon.
DBT-Adult & Adolescent Programs
Centered Ground also provides adherent standard DBT for adults and adolescents, including individual therapy, group skills training, and coaching calls. Centered Ground is the only full DBT provider in North County San Diego north of Del Mar. DBT for Teens and Families covers the following skills in a group format that has research support for its effectiveness in addressing emotional intensity and impulsive behaviors in teens: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, behaviorism, validation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Adult DBT skills training covers mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness. Dr. Klein has been a DBT clinician since 2004. Her training and experience includes DBT for substance use and DBT adaptations to enhance accessibility in the real world, e.g., serving as the lead study therapist for Dr. Kim Gratz’s randomized trial of emotion regulation group treatment for self-harm (Gratz, Tull, & Levy, 2014). She has also directed and developed multiple DBT-based programs in a variety of settings, including college counseling centers and an intensive outpatient/partial hospitalization program.
For more information, please visit Centered Ground
