Week 1
These are the physical, emotional, or behavioral signs that help you recognize your nervous system has been activated even if you don’t know the exact trigger.
What are symptoms of being triggered?
This simple rule helps you pause, use a skill, and choose how to respond instead of acting on an impulse.
What is the 5-Minute Rule
This term refers to the positive factors in your life, such as supportive family, social connections, and healthy habits, that strengthen your ability to sustain recovery.
What are protective factors
Approximately how many thoughts does the average human have per day?
What is 6,000?
What is the Ranch Alumni program called
Rooted
This type of danger feels very real in your body but does not involve a present, external threat and is best managed using calming or grounding skills.
What is inside danger (a perceived threat)?
This nervous system response turns on fight, flight, or freeze when the brain senses danger.
What is the sympathetic (Hot) nervous system
In this stage of change, a person has recently changed a behavior and intends to keep moving forward while maintaining the new behavior.
What is the action stage
This DBT technique helps track the sequence from trigger to behavior in order to prevent a relapse.
What is Chain Analysis
Weekly, you track your protective and risk factors, your triggers, and the skills you use to stay safe and in treatment. This is called your…
Safety Plan
This part of the brain helps you think about consequences, plan for the future, and tell the difference between the past and the present—but goes offline when you’re highly triggered.
What is the cortex (thinking brain)
A client reports feeling unsafe in treatment despite no current danger. Their heart is racing, muscles are tense, and they say, “I know I’m safe, but I don’t feel safe.” According to the safety model, this experience is best explained as this type of threat, and the most appropriate next step is to engage a grounding or regulation skill rather than problem-solving.
What is a perceived internal threat activating the limbic system
These bottom-up approaches focus on regulating your body and nervous system during high emotional arousal, such as grounding techniques or holding an ice cube.
What are distress tolerance or bottom-up coping skills?
These chemical messengers include dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin.
What are the feel-good messengers?
What is one staple food item that we always have for breakfast
What is Eggs
This DBT communication skill helps you clearly ask for what you need, set boundaries, and stay respectful of both yourself and the other person.
What is DEAR MAN?
This skill means noticing when someone else is outside their Window of Tolerance and staying regulated yourself so the situation doesn’t escalate.
What is co-regulation
This DBT concept encourages fully acknowledging reality without judgment or resistance, helping reduce suffering and enhance mindfulness.
What is Radical Acceptance
These guide your decisions and relationships and form the foundation for boundaries.
What is the name of the Alumni activity that is held at the end of each summer.
What is Homecoming
When someone says, “I don’t know why I did that I know better,” this brain state was most likely in charge, and the most effective first response is a bottom-up regulation skill.
What is the limbic system being activated (with the cortex offline)
This method helps you reduce intense emotions or urges in the moment so you don’t act impulsively and make things worse.
What is the Shock and Shift method
These skills are used when your emotional “bucket” is overflowing, helping you to survive the moment without making things worse.
What are distress tolerance skills
Saying “I’ll do it later” or skipping therapy is an example of this, which can hinder recovery.
What is willfulness?
What is the name of the Rock formation past the ropes course.