Skills For Clients

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Radical acceptance

OPENING UP TO YOUR EXPERIENCE

Many of us are adjusting to the fact that we will be house-bound for an indefinite amount of time due to prevention efforts in reducing the impact of the Covid-19 Virus. This “shelter in place” mandate can lead to an understandable amount of anxiety, confusion and frustration as we discover how this will ultimately impact our families. Our clients and families are having to scramble to figure out educational and job responsibilities, on top of their current focus on improving their emotional well-being.

In light of this major and probably unwelcome adjustment, we thought it would be helpful to share an important skill from our DBT curriculum:

RADICAL ACCEPTANCE

Radical Acceptance skill is within the Distress Tolerance Module. The set of skills that make up the Distress Tolerance module are also referred to as the Crisis Survival Skills. We teach clients to use distress tolerance, including Radical Acceptance, when you can’t simply solve the current problem you are experiencing or the emotions are becoming too intense. Basically, radical acceptance involves tolerating your distress temporarily so the situation doesn’t worsen, until you can effectively manage the problem.

The skill of Radical Acceptance is acknowledging the facts you can’t change, which is what our community needs right now to effectively respond to this crisis, reduce the impact from the virus and the demands on our medical system.

Radical Acceptance includes:

  • Seeing reality as it is, even if you don’t like it

  • Acknowledging facts, enduring a situation and not giving up

  • Not fighting reality or continuing with stories that will worsen your experience about the situation

    WHAT TO DO INSTEAD:

    When you accept reality as it is, you can then effectively problem solve what to do next:

  • Mindfulness of your current emotion so that you can use skills to either reduce your emotional mind or problem solve (identify your emotion first!)

  • Distract yourself with other activities, evoke other emotions (e.g. watch a funny movie with a friend for a temporary break from anxiety)

  • Opposite Action of your emotion and action urge (e.g. if you are feeling fear, approach the fact that we are isolated at home and brainstorm ideas to reach out to the community in a healthy way…sending a friend a compliment, posting a comment on a politician’s social media site, writing a grandparent a letter to check in on them, checking in on a friend by phone)

  • Ride the Wave of your emotion, knowing that emotions are temporary when they are not re-triggered by a situation or our thoughts. Just notice your emotion, tell yourself it will pass and engage in healthy self-care

    These are just some examples of how to manage your emotions after you radically accept the situation you are in. Your clinician will be more than happy to brainstorm additional ways to manage your emotional experience.

Michelle Mazza