ACCEPTS
This A in ACCEPTS involves doing something that occupies your mind and body, like drawing, walking, or cleaning.
Activities
These are the stories your brain tells about the event (“They hate me,” “I’m a failure”).
Thoughts
You’re anxious before a presentation and your heart is racing.
Activities, Thoughts, Sensations, Emotions
(e.g., hold ice, do jumping jacks, grounding, opposite emotion)
“People with depression always look sad and withdrawn.”
Myth
Teens can be high-achieving, funny, social and still be depressed.
What has lots of words but never speaks?
A book
This ACCEPTS skill means helping someone else to shift focus away from your own distress.
Contributing
We discussed that changes in how our body feels can indicate an emotion. What might you notice in your body that lets you know you're having an emotion?
Racing heart, shaky hands, butterflies, tight chest, etc.
You fought with a parent and have an urge to vape/use to numb feelings.
Answers vary (Activities, Contributing, Sensations, Thoughts, Pushing Away, urge surfing)
Myth or fact: “Having cravings means treatment isn’t working.”
Myth
I am often running,
but I never get tired.
What am I?
A refrigerator or nose
This skill uses mental tasks like counting tiles, puzzles, or math to distract from urges.
Thoughts
Every emotion comes with these EVEN when you don't act on it — like hide, yell, cry, use, or avoid.
Urges
You see friends hanging out without you on social media and feel left out. You care about these friends and want to keep the friendship.
Answers vary.
“Stress can be good sometimes.”
Fact
Short-term stress can help motivation and focus; chronic stress is harmful.
What five-letter word becomes shorter when you add two letters to it?
Short
This ACCEPTS skill involves creating a different emotion on purpose, such as watching a comedy when sad.
Emotions (similar to Opposite action)
True or false: Part of an emotion is preparing us to take action
True
Your anger goes from 0 to 100 fast, and you want to punch something.
Sensations (cold water/ice), Activities (exercise), Thoughts (counting), Take a time-out, Emotions (soothing music)
“Panic attacks can happen even when nothing scary is happening.”
Fact
They can be triggered by body sensations, stress buildup, or seemingly out of nowhere.
You can see me in water,
but I never get wet.
What am I?
A reflection
This ACCEPTS skill is about temporarily setting aside a stressful problem in your mind until later.
Pushing away
How can emotions be helpful?
Tells you what's important to you, gives you information about your world, etc.
You feel so overwhelmed you can’t think clearly enough to problem-solve.
Do something to help the emotion come down to where you can think more clearly (ACCEPTS), then use another skill to help you problem solve or accept the situation without making it worse
“Taking a break from friends or social media can actually improve mental health.”
Fact
Boundary-setting and breaks can reduce comparison, drama, and stress.
What has a heart that doesn't beat?
An artichoke