12-Steps
This is the first thing AA's Step One asks a Us to admit about our relationship with alcohol or another substance.
What is POWERLESSNESS?
CBT teaches that these three things influence one another and can create either helpful or unhelpful cycles.
What are thoughts, feelings, and behaviors?
This recovery slogan reminds us that lifelong recovery is handled in much smaller pieces.
What is One Day at a Time?
This word describes recognizing and appreciating what is good or meaningful in your life, even when life isn't perfect.
What is gratitude?
Mindfulness repeatedly brings our attention back to which moment rather than living in yesterday or tomorrow.
What is the present moment?
Steps 8 and 9 deal with identifying people we've harmed and, when appropriate, doing this to repair the damage.
What is making amends?
In DBT, this state of mind integrates emotional experience with logic and reason rather than relying completely on either one.
What is Wise Mind?
This slogan reminds us that understanding recovery intellectually isn't enough; change requires action.
What is Easy Does It, but Do It? (or... it works if u work it)
Unlike religion, this concept can simply involve connection to something larger than yourself, meaning, values, or a sense of transcendence
What is spirituality?
During mindfulness, thoughts inevitably appear. Instead of fighting them, the basic practice is to do this and gently return attention to the present.
What is notice/observe them without judgment and redirect attention?
Step Four asks people to complete this “searching and fearless” examination of themselves.
What is a moral inventory?
In ACT, trying to eliminate, suppress, or escape unwanted thoughts and feelings is known by this two-word term.
What is experiential avoidance?
You're furious about something another person did and have spent three days replaying it even though you cannot change it. This slogan redirects attention toward your own behavior instead.
What is Keep Your Side of the Street Clean?
This Buddhist teaching says suffering is intensified when we cling to how we believe people, situations, or life itself “should” be.
What is attachment or clinging? (or craving, grasping)
You suddenly notice, “My chest is tight, my thoughts are racing, and anxiety is here,” without immediately trying to make it disappear. This mindfulness skill is being demonstrated.
What is nonjudgmental awareness/observation?
Step Ten turns earlier inventory work into an ongoing practice by asking people to continue taking personal inventory and do this when they are wrong.
What is promptly admitting it?
Your friend doesn't text back. The fact is “they haven't responded.” Your brain adds, “They're mad at me, I did something wrong, and they're ignoring me.” In CBT, those added conclusions are examples of these.
What are cognitive distortions/automatic thoughts?
Someone keeps trying to force their spouse to trust them immediately after entering recovery. This classic slogan reminds them that some outcomes cannot be rushed.
What is Let Go and Let God? (or acceptance is the answer to all my problems today)
In the Buddhist “Two Arrows” metaphor, the first arrow represents unavoidable pain. This represents the second arrow.
What is the additional suffering we create through our reaction/resistance to the pain?
During a craving, a person observes the urge rising, changing, and eventually falling without automatically acting on it. This mindfulness-based practice is called this.
What is urge surfing?
These three steps are sometimes summarized as helping us recognize the problem (I Can't), become open to help beyond ourselves (G.O.D. Can), and make a decision to pursue a different way of living (Let G.O.D.).
What are Steps 1, 2, and 3?
A client says, “I'm a failure because I made a mistake.” A therapist helps them shift toward, “I made a mistake, I can take responsibility, repair what I can, and still treat myself like a human being.” This approach reflects this concept we explored this week.
What is self-compassion?
A person is obsessing over whether someone likes them, whether tomorrow will go according to plan, and whether their family will ever forgive them. This recovery principle reminds them to distinguish their own choices from outcomes they cannot command.
What is acceptance / letting go of control?
Viktor Frankl argued that even when circumstances cannot be changed, human beings retain freedom in this important area.
What is choosing one's attitude or response toward those circumstances? (the space between stimulus and response is your freedom to choose remember?)
A person thinks mindfulness has “failed” because their mind wandered 25 times during meditation. In reality, this moment—repeated 25 times—is actually a central part of the practice
What is noticing the mind wandered and returning attention to the present?