Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Nathan Tomcik.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
In August of this year, we opened our behavioral health clinic, Radically Open Connections, where we specialize in providing Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT). RO-DBT is a newer, evidence-based treatment designed specifically for people who haven’t responded to “treatment as usual,” including individuals with chronic depression, anxiety, trauma, and anorexia. Our focus is helping people rediscover hope, flexibility, and meaningful engagement with life, especially those who have tried therapy before but never quite found relief.
Our success with RO-DBT began years earlier during our work with military Veterans at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Columbus, Ohio. Dr. Nathan Tomcik served as the Chief Psychologist and Deputy Chief of Behavioral Health, and Jimmy Portner, LISW-S, was the Division Director for Intensive Mental Health Services, overseeing care for Veterans with the most severe and persistent mental illnesses. Despite offering the best evidence-based treatments available, we noticed a consistent pattern: about one-third of the Veterans we treated weren’t improving enough, even with highly skilled clinicians and gold-standard therapies.
These were Veterans who were resilient, disciplined, and deeply committed to their families and communities but many coped through excessive self-control, often suffering in silence, masking their emotions, and pushing through alone. Traditional therapies didn’t always reach them.
Everything changed in 2014 when Jimmy discovered a three-day introductory training for a new treatment (Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy) led by its developer, Dr. Thomas Lynch, in Seattle. At that time, a major multi-site clinical trial in the United Kingdom had just been completed, and this training was the first RO-DBT course offered in the United States. We attended together, and it quickly became clear that RO-DBT filled a critical gap in mental health care.
RO-DBT was designed precisely for the people we were struggling to help; the high-achieving, perfectionistic, emotionally reserved individuals who rarely ask for help yet often feel profoundly disconnected. It explained so much of what we were seeing every day.
When we returned to Ohio, we launched the first VA-based RO-DBT program in the nation. Over the years, we worked closely with Dr. Lynch, eventually becoming trainers and Senior Clinicians helping to disseminate RO-DBT across the VA system. We witnessed firsthand how transformative this approach could be for people who had tried everything else and still felt stuck.
After years of leading programs, training clinicians, and seeing the life-changing impact of RO-DBT, we felt called to bring this work to the broader community. Access to RO-DBT outside the VA was extremely limited, despite the tremendous need. So in 2024, we made the difficult but meaningful decision to step away from our leadership roles and create a clinic dedicated to providing this rare and effective treatment.
That’s how Radically Open Connections was born.
We opened our doors with a simple mission:
to expand access to the highest-quality evidence-based treatments in the community.
We focus on helping high-achieving, perfectionistic strivers (people who rarely ask for help and often feel alone in their struggles) finally feel understood, supported, and connected.
Today, we are the only clinic in Ohio specializing in RO-DBT and one of the few in the region offering a comprehensive program for chronic depression, anxiety, trauma, and relationship distress when previous treatments haven’t helped. We’re proud to bring this work to Columbus and to create a space where people can learn to open up, build meaningful relationships, and live lives that feel authentic and connected.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road definitely hasn’t been smooth. Both of us spent many years in leadership roles at the VA, serving Veterans and supporting the clinicians who cared for them. Leaving that world, its structure, its mission, and the people we cared deeply about was not an easy decision. We didn’t step away because we wanted to leave; we stepped away because we felt a responsibility to bring RO-DBT and other evidence-based treatments to a community that had almost no access to them.
The transition from large systems to a private clinic came with a steep learning curve. We went from overseeing interdisciplinary teams and major programs to building a clinic from the ground up including finding space, navigating business structures, managing insurance credentialing, and designing everything from scheduling systems to treatment pathways. It was exciting, but at times overwhelming.
Another challenge has been education and awareness. RO-DBT is still relatively new, and most people (including many clinicians) haven’t heard of it. We’ve had to do a lot of outreach to explain why some individuals don’t respond to traditional therapies and how emotional overcontrol affects mental health and relationships. Helping people understand that their struggle isn’t a personal failure, but a mismatch between their coping style and the treatment they received, is a barrier we work hard to overcome.
Despite these challenges, the process has been incredibly rewarding. Every time someone comes to us after years of feeling “stuck” and begins to reconnect with others, try new things, or experience joy again, it’s a reminder of why we chose this path. The obstacles have strengthened our commitment to expanding access to evidence-based care and bringing RO-DBT to the people who need it most.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
At Radically Open Connections, we specialize in Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT). RO-DBT is an innovative, evidence-based treatment designed specifically for people who struggle with emotional overcontrol. Overcontrol is a temperament style marked by perfectionism, inhibited emotional expression, and a strong drive to “get it right.” These traits often help people succeed, but they can also lead to loneliness, chronic depression, anxiety, rigid thinking, and relationship difficulties.
What sets RO-DBT apart is that it’s a transdiagnostic treatment, meaning it targets the underlying personality and coping style—not just the symptoms. Instead of focusing on reducing distress alone, RO-DBT works through a novel mechanism of change: improving openness, emotional flexibility, and awareness of social signaling. Put simply, it helps people communicate warmth, vulnerability, and authenticity in ways that foster genuine connection.
That focus on connection is core to everything we do, which is why our tagline is:
“Recovery begins with connection.”
We’re proud to bring this treatment to Columbus, because access to RO-DBT has historically been extremely limited. After years of successfully implementing RO-DBT with military Veterans who hadn’t responded to traditional therapies, we wanted to make sure people in our community could benefit as well. We are currently the only clinic in Ohio specializing in RO-DBT, and one of the few centers nationwide providing a comprehensive program for individuals struggling with chronic depression, anxiety, trauma, and relationship distress—especially when previous treatments haven’t worked.
In addition to RO-DBT, we offer evidence-based couple and family therapy and targeted treatments for conditions rooted in high perfectionism, emotional inhibition, and rigid coping.
Brand-wise, we’re most proud of the environment we’ve created: a warm, collaborative space where high-achieving, conscientious individuals—who often hesitate to ask for help—can feel understood, supported, and encouraged to try new ways of relating to others. Our approach is grounded in science, but delivered with compassion, authenticity, and a deep respect for the people we serve.
Whether someone has felt “stuck” for years, has tried therapy multiple times, or simply wants to build stronger and more meaningful relationships, our message to readers is this: you don’t have to do it alone, change is absolutely possible and we’re here to help.
What’s next?
We’re incredibly excited about the next chapter for Radically Open Connections. One of the biggest developments for us has been expanding our team. We recently hired our first psychologist, Dr. Ted Beauchaine, who brings extensive research experience from both the University of Washington and The Ohio State University. His background in experimental psychopathology and behavioral science is a perfect fit for our mission, and we’re thrilled to have him joining the RO-DBT community in Ohio.
Looking ahead, our goal is to continue growing in a way that preserves the warmth, quality, and precision of care that we’re known for. We plan to add additional clinicians who are passionate about evidence-based psychotherapy and who want to specialize in helping individuals who often feel overlooked by traditional treatments. Because access to RO-DBT is so limited nationally, we also hope to expand our ability to train other mental health providers in the community. One of our long-term goals is to help build a network of clinicians throughout Ohio who understand overcontrol, can recognize it accurately, and are equipped to treat it.
Beyond expanding our team, we’re working to develop more group programs, workshops, and continuing education opportunities for clinicians who want to learn about RO-DBT, couple and family therapy, or advanced behavioral approaches. Bringing high-quality training to the Columbus area is a meaningful part of our mission to increase access to science-based treatments.
Ultimately, we’re looking forward to continuing to grow a clinic where people feel connected, supported, and empowered to change their lives. We’re still in our first year as a practice, but we’re energized by the community response and excited for what comes next. Our work is rooted in a simple belief: when people feel safe enough to open up and connect, real healing becomes possible.
Pricing:
- We are in network with most major insurance companies including United Healthcare, Aetna, Cigna and OhioHealth
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