ACCEPTS is a powerful DBT tool that helps you temporarily distract from intense emotional pain when you can’t solve the problem right away.
It stands for seven categories of healthy distractions that can give you space to breathe, prevent impulsive reactions, and help you ride out a crisis without making it worse.
Distraction isn’t about denying or avoiding your emotions. Instead, it gives your nervous system a break—allowing the intensity to come down so you can approach the situation with more clarity and stability later.
Instructions:
Choose 1-2 items from each of the seven categories, using the list below for inspiration to create your "Distraction Toolbox"
Pro Tip: Creating a physical box with the items needed for each activity can help make it more accessible to use in a moment of distress!
ACCEPTS Examples
(A)ctivities - Clean a room in your house, go walking, call a friend, build something, go out for a meal, etc.
(C)ontributing - Find volunteer work, help a friend, surprise someone, donate things you don't need, send a thoughtful message, etc.
(C)omparisons - Compare to previous challenges you previously overcame, thinking about how others have coped in similar situations, etc.
(E)motions - Listening to emotional music, funny videos, comedies, scary movies, etc.
(P)ushing Away - Build an imaginary wall between yourself and the situation, using the container exercise, putting the distress on a shelf, saying "No" or "Stop", etc.
(T)houghts - Counting backwards in 7s, doing a math problem, crossword puzzle, count colours in a painting or letters in a text
(S)ensations - Squeezing a rubber ball, holding an ice cube, taking a cold shower, walking barefoot on grass, listening to loud music
