By: Alyson Dudley, MSW
The DBT ACCEPTS skill can be used during crisis situations or stressful circumstances when we attempt to not make a situation worse and want to temporarily distract ourselves until our strong emotions subside. As with many DBT skills, ACCEPTS is an acronym, which outlines the different ways in which we can distract ourselves.
Activities: engaging in an activity to distract. Examples might include hobbies, sports, watching television.
Contributing: helping someone/giving can allow for our focus to be on others and less so on ourselves, thus helping to distract. Examples might include volunteering, donating funds or goods, or being an advocate or support to someone else.
Comparison: taking a moment to compare our situation to someone else who is struggling or to a time when we were struggling in the past, can be helpful if it puts into perspective that our current situation might be not be as difficult. It does not mean that we are not struggling, just that in comparison we can ALSO recognize what is going well. Examples might include comparing ourselves to war victims or thinking about how far we’ve come in our own recovery.
Emotions: engaging in an activity that can help to shift our emotion to one that is more manageable in the moment. An example might include watching a funny movie to help shift and distract from the emotion of sadness.
Pushing Away: temporarily pushing away our worried thoughts to allow for a break/distraction. Examples might include writing our thoughts into a journal and then closing the journal page or imagining putting our thoughts into a box and closing the lid.
Thoughts: using our thoughts as a way to distract ourselves temporarily. Examples might include reciting numbers or the alphabet, doing math problems or spelling in our head, or reading a book.
Sensations: focusing on the sensations in our body to distract. Examples might include eating something spicy, holding ice in our hand or having a warm shower.
The time we take to mindfully distract ourselves can lead to self-regulation. Once we’re regulated, we can often then move onto other helpful strategies such as cognitive skills (Balanced Thinking, Wise-Minded Decision Making, Self-Validation or Self-Compassion). If you find yourself in a crisis or stressful situation, see if distracting yourself with ACCEPTS might be helpful!
Adapted From DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets, Second Edition, by Marsha M. Linehan. Copyright 2015 by Marsha M. Linehan.