RO DBT Practitioner and RO Skills Instructor Pathways
We offer two training pathways depending on the skill level you need:
- RO DBT Practitioner: all knowledge and skills required to deliver the recommended outpatient RO DBT model comprising individual treatment sessions and RO Skills Training Classes.
- RO Skills Instructor: a slimmed-down version of the RO DBT Practitioner pathway designed for clinicians who only wish to lead or co-lead RO Skills Classes.
Level 1 is the same for both pathways, but Levels 2 and 3 are slimmed down for the RO Skills Instructor Pathway. More details about each pathway can be found below.
All our trainings are provided by RO Institute-certified RO DBT Trainers who have completed extensive training and supervision in RO DBT. For a full list of approved trainers, please see the Trainers and Supervisors page.
The RO DBT Practitioner Pathway
Qualified RO DBT Practitioners are able to deliver the recommended outpatient RO DBT model comprising individual treatment sessions and RO Skills Training Classes.
To achieve Practitioner status, therapists must complete the RO DBT Practitioner Pathway which consist of 3 levels:
- Level 1: 6 On-demand webinars teaching the foundations of RO DBT (8 hours CE).
- Level 2: 30 On-demand webinars teaching how to deliver the full RO DBT model effectively (40.5 hours CE).
- Level 3: A 3.5-day in-person workshop or a series of live webinars teaching RO DBT protocols and principles (24 hours CE).
All three levels will need to be completed in succession to obtain the RO DBT Practitioner Certificate.
For details on learning objectives per level, please go to the individual course pages.
RO Skills Instructor Pathway
This program is meant for clinicians who only wish to lead or co-lead RO Skills Classes. To become an RO Skills Instructor you are required to complete a shortened version of the RO DBT Practitioner Pathway.
Similar to the RO DBT Practitioner Pathway, the RO Skills Instructor Pathway consists of 3 levels:
- Level 1: 6 On-demand webinars teaching the foundations of RO DBT (8 hours CE).
- Level 2: 17 On-demand webinars going into more detail about how to deliver RO DBT Skills Classes effectively (22.25 hours CE).
- Level 3: A 2-day in-person workshop or a series of live webinars teaching RO DBT protocols and principles (13 hours CE).
All three levels will need to be completed in succession to obtain the RO Skills Instructor Certificate.
For details on learning objectives per level, please go to the individual course pages.
Entry Requirements and Additional Information
Target audience: Apart from a professional qualification in a mental health or related field (e.g. psychology, psychiatry, social work, mental health nursing) there are no further prerequisites for the course. Previous training in standard DBT is not a requirement for attending RO DBT training.
Content Level: Beginner (Level 1) to Intermediate (Levels 2 and 3).
Recommended Reading Materials:
- Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Theory and Practice for Treating Disorders of Overcontrol (T. Lynch, 2018; published by New Harbinger)
- The Skills Training Manual for Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy: A Clinician's Guide for Treating Disorders of Overcontrol (T. Lynch, 2018; published by New Harbinger)
These books will be used throughout the training as reference works. For Level 1 you will be able to download the referenced book sections from the lesson materials if you do not (yet) own the textbook or skills manual. You will not receive excerpts from the Textbook or Skills Manual as part of the Level 2 and 3 courses. It is assumed that clinicians wishing to learn RO DBT will have purchased these books already. If you have not, you can purchase them through various book sellers, including Amazon and New Harbinger, the publisher.
Accreditation: We are accredited by the American Psychological Association and by the Approved Continuing Accreditation / Association of Social Work Boards. ACE and APA credit is not awarded for prerequisite reading, homework, assignments, supervision, and consultation.
Conflicts of interest: We don't receive any direct commercial support for our training companies RO DBT Online B.V. and Radically Open Ltd. However, Dr. Thomas Lynch, the RO DBT treatment developer and chief RO DBT trainer, receives royalty fees for the RO DBT Textbook and Skills Manual from New Harbinger publishers. He is married to Mrs Erica Smith-Lynch, co-owner and director of Radically Open Ltd and RO DBT Online B.V.
