ACCEPTS: A DBT Skill for Trauma

Greetings, and welcome to the seventh video in this module. So far in this series on distress tolerance, we have learned about coping mindsets, pre-coping skills, and coping with the body. In this lesson, we will learn a series of distraction skills which follow the acronym ACCEPTS. So, let’s get started.

The ACCEPTS acronym is not one specific skill but rather an entire menu of skills. What all of these skills have in common is that each represents a specific way to distract from a current trigger. Now, it’s important to underline at this point that in DBT, distraction is not a break from mindfulness as dissociation would be, for example. But rather an intentional redirection of mindfulness towards something other than the trigger.

Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.,Reutter, K. (2019). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook for PTSD: Practical exercises for overcoming trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (1st ed.). New Harbinger Publications.

So, ACCEPTS is not just an acronym but also a reminder to accept the moment without making it worse. And the ACCEPTS acronym refers to the following skills: Activities, Contributing, Comparisons, Emotions, Postponing, Thoughts, and Sensations. And once again, what they all have in common is these are all ways of intentionally engaging in some kind of mindfulness practice other than focusing on the actual trigger.

Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT skills training manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.,Reutter, K. (2019). The dialectical behavior therapy skills workbook for PTSD: Practical exercises for overcoming trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (1st ed.). New Harbinger Publications.