Crisis Survival
Distracting skills: wise mind ACCEPTS
IMPROVE the moment
Miscellaneous
Accepting Reality
100
This is the definition of self-soothing when in distress. Hint: every human has these 5 sensory input mechanisms.
What is redirecting my attention to calming myself with a sight, sound, smell, taste, or physical sensation (the 5 senses)?
100
Managing strong emotions by distracting our attention by doing something we enjoy. The A in ACCEPTs.
What is Activities?
100
The E in IMPROVE. It's similar to positive thinking. Give two examples.
What is Encouragement. Examples would be saying positive things like "you are strong, you can get through this," to yourself, remembering goals you are working towards, or reading inspirational quotes or mantras.
100
This two-column process helps you figure out how a certain choice (or even whether tolerating or not tolerating a situation) would be positive and negative for you.
What is pros & cons.
100
Making an effort to help, try something, accept things for what they are and not fight against them...an "attitude" of sorts
What is being Willing
200
Your partner broke up with you without any explanation. You feel sad, empty, angry and alone. In order to distract yourself from relapsing or doing harm to yourself, you go to your kitchen and grab some ice cubes to hold in your bare hands for 10 minutes. This is an example of what ACCEPTS (or TIPP) skill?
Sensations, or tipping your body temperature.
200
Using ______ can help us realize that someone else has more struggles than we do and that our situation could be worse. It's also known as the "count your blessings" skill.
What is comparisons?
200
Replacing immediate negative events or emotions with more positive ones to help get through, center yourself, or get to a place where you can see the situation in a new way.
What is IMPROVIng the moment?
200
It's best to complete a pros and cons list in this frame of mind, instead of emotion or rational mind. Extra 100 points if you explain why.
What is wise mind? Reason to utilize it with pros and cons: it helps you be aware of your emotions and make the most logical decisions to help bring you closer to your goals.
200
Refusing to cooperate, wanting to only have things your way, fighting against reality...staying stuck.
What is being Willful?
300
This is what the acronyms STOP stands for, a reminder to slow life down to get perspective.
What is Stop (freeze in your tracks), take a step back from the situation (a break, a breath), Observe what's going on inside and outside of you, and Proceed mindfully, with awareness (thinking about your goals, what actions will make the situation better or worse, etc.)
300
Refocusing attention away from yourself to what you can do for others. The first C in ACCEPTS.
What is contributing?
300
The I in improve the moment; using visualization to create an experience that can distract and soothe.
What is Imagery?
300
Distress tolerance skills are meant to be used to get through _______ situations without making them _________.
Tough/difficult/miserable, without making them worse
300
Identifying what you have control over, what you don't have control over, and skillfully letting go of things you can't control. Does not mean approval or resignation, but focusing your energy on what you can control.
What is radical acceptance?
400
The last to Ps in the TIP skill (T being tipping your body temperature, I being intense exercise). Hint: using your diaphragm for oxygen efficiency and noticing/releasing physical tension.
What is paced breathing and paired muscle relaxation.
400
This is replacing current negative emotions with another less negative emotion, purposefully. For example, listening to a comedian when you are sad, or reading a historical book when you are fearful or anxious. The E in ACCEPTS.
What is (opposite) emotion?
400
The R in IMPROVE; Deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation and yoga are examples of this.
What is Relaxation skills?
400
Being open to working with an external source or "higher power" is a way to describe this distress tolerance skill from IMPROVE the moment.
What is prayer?
400
A way to change how you feel by changing your facial expression.
What is half-smile?
500
This is the best time to use your self-soothing and crisis survival skills.
When you are in emotional pain, feeling overwhelmed by your emotions, or having thoughts/impulses to be unsafe.
500
This is the full mnemonic for ACCEPTS, the crisis survival distraction skills.
What is activities, contributing, comparisons, (opposite) emotion, pushing away, thoughts and sensations.
500
The M in IMPROVE; Using your reasonable mind to find purpose and understanding to your distress; "whatever doesn't kill me makes me stronger," and "I'm a survivor" are examples of this.
What is Meaning?
500
This is what we call focusing our attention on the present moment and doing the next right thing...baby steps; The O in IMPROVE the moment.
What is "one thing at a time"?
500

True or False:  The average cloud weighs over a million tons.

True

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