The first part of the Emotion Regulation Module was the review of how emotions work, and the second part was about changing our response to emotions. This was the Opposite Action skill. After that PLEASE was part of how to reduce our vulnerability to Emotion Mind such that we can stay in Wise Mind. The next set of skills is part of that reducing vulnerability section…
- A – Accumulate Positive Experiences
- B – Build Mastery
- C – Cope Ahead
Accumulating Positive Experiences helps build positivity into our life for the long term. As we do more things that give us joy, we have less time to dwell on the negative. Here are the steps listed in the DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets, Second Edition 2015 by Marsha Linehan…
Avoid avoiding – start now to do what is necessary to build the life you want. Use these steps if you don’t know what to do.- Identify values that are important to you (check out the Narrowing Down Values post and list)
- Identify one value to work on for now.
- Identify a few goals related to this value – the how of building that value in.
- Choose one goal to work on now.
- Identify small action steps toward your goal.
- Take one action step now.
These steps are baby steps and are meant for those who are having a hard time processing, seeing the positives in life, and remembering that distress will eventually pass. For someone who doesn’t need to break down the process into baby steps, there is a list of Pleasant Events that has a wide and varied list of activities. Our list was three pages, but some of it was redundant so I’ve narrowed it down to one page and posted it under Lists.
Build Mastery is similar to Accumulating Pleasant Events in that it’s choosing to do positive things now such that the long term is “a life worth living.” The difference is that Build Mastery is about choosing to do things that are hard but possible and gradually increasing the difficulty of what you’re doing over time. The bottom line is to do things that speak to your heart and mind that you are capable, that you do have gifts and talents, and that the shame of worthlessness can be overcome.
