Acceptance and Change in Trauma Treatment
United States Department of Homeland Security
Key Points
- The primary dialectic in DBT is acceptance vs change.
- Acceptance and change are not mutually exclusive.
- The more we accept clients, the more we help them change and the more we help clients change, the more we show that we accept them. Let’s review that video with a few key points.
- Acceptance and change ratio is in constant flux and requires clinical judgment.
- When clients need acceptance, focus on mindfulness and distress tolerance skills.
- When clients need to change, focus on emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness skills.
