Has Therapy Felt Useless? You May Have Been Misunderstood

"Most therapy is built on one idea: People struggle because they can't manage their emotions. They act on impulse. They need more coping tools and better self-control. For many people, that's exactly right. But for others, it's the opposite problem."

"There is a group of people who already have too much control. They don't act impulsively. They follow the rules. They hold everything together, at least on the outside. Inside, it's a different story. They feel empty or deeply lonely. They deal with depression that won't lift."

"Dr. Thomas Lynch spent over 20 years studying people who don't respond well to standard therapy. He found that overcontrolled people are common among those with: Chronic, treatment-resistant depression, Anxiety that doesn't improve with CBT, Anorexia nervosa or other restrictive eating patterns, Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder."

Standard therapy typically addresses insufficient emotional control and impulsivity, but some individuals experience the opposite problem: overcontrol. These overcontrolled people follow rules rigidly, maintain external composure, yet experience internal emptiness, loneliness, depression, and inflexible routines. They don't benefit from traditional therapy approaches emphasizing better self-regulation because they already exercise excessive control. Research by Dr. Thomas Lynch identified overcontrol as common among those with treatment-resistant depression, CBT-resistant anxiety, restrictive eating disorders, and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. Radically Open DBT (RO DBT) offers an alternative therapeutic approach specifically designed for overcontrolled individuals, addressing their unique neurological and psychological patterns rather than attempting to increase control further.

Read at Psychology Today