Day 21 Crisis Survival Plan

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Day 21: Crisis Survival Plan:

There may be times when you are under so much emotional distress that you need to put in an extra amount of effort to keep from behaving in past, destructive ways. e.g. drinking too much when you are feeling upset.ย One way to prepare for this is to create a Crisis Survival Plan kit right now, when you are feeling well enough to do so.

Put on top of the page ‘My Crisis Survival Plan’ and then write down the following:

  1. ย A friend or loved one that I can call for support (Name and phone number).
  2. ย I have been working hard to prevent myself from sabotaging, so no matter how bad this feels right now, I am going to focus on my short term and long term goals and not sabotage. ย List your short and long term goals.
  3. ย When I feel distressed, I will engage in the following activities to help calm or distract me (List the activities). ย No matter how bad it feels right now, and how resistant or stubborn I may feel about taking care of myself in this way, in this moment, I am going to do one of these activities (Do the activity).

If you feel overwhelmed, then look at your “Crisis Survival Plan” and pick the points you would like to use to help you through the crisis. ย When you are feeling better afterwards, notice what triggered the overwhelming emotions and what skills you used to help you overcome the crisis.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 20 Coping Ahead

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Day 20: Coping Ahead:

Coping Ahead is a DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) skill that falls under the Emotion Regulation module. ย It can be used to prepare for everything from a work meeting to a legal session to a doctor’s visit.

With this skill, you use your imagination to vividly think about the situation you are anticipating. ย Do a guided muscle tension and relaxation meditation so that you can feel relaxed both physically and mentally, then start thinking about the experience in advance. ย Imagine all your senses coming alive and truly experience the upcoming situation in the way you would like for it to be.

When you cope ahead with potentially difficult situations, you provide your mind and nervous system with a way to desensitize the upcoming event. ย You also prepare yourself for what to expect and lessen your anxiety regarding the situation.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 19 Radical Acceptance

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Day 19: Radical Acceptance:

Radical Acceptance is acceptingย those issuesย in our lives that we just don’t feel fully ready to accept. ย Maybe someone is ill. ย Maybe a relationship isn’t working out as we had hoped and planned. ย It’s as if we think that somehow, magically, by not acknowledging the situation, then it either doesn’t exist or will go away.

By denying the truth and not accepting the reality for what it truly is, we stay stuck in the situation and are unable to find solutions or to move on.

Radical Acceptance involves the acknowledgement of the following three things:

  1. Reality is what it is
  2. Everything has a cause
  3. Life can be worth living even when there’s pain

(Dr. Marsha Linehan, From Chaos to Freedom video series)

Identify at least one issue in your life that you are not facing head on. ย Realize how denying the reality of what is at hand prevents you from experiencing your life in the here and now? ย Take slow steady steps on either resolving the issue, or accepting the facts. ย This way, you can release the underlying emotions and move on.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 18 Doing Only What is Needed

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Day 18: Doing Only What is Needed:

If you are going through an emotional crisis and you feel overwhelmed, then practice doing only what is needed for the time being. ย What this means is to only focus on those time sensitive things that will have consequences and spend the rest of your time and effort on taking care of yourself.

Depending on how intense the crisis is, decide how much you can handle on a given day, and then do just that. ย Don’t be afraid to show others your vulnerability, that you are not composed a hundred percent of the time.

By allowing yourself time to slow down and relax, you prevent yourself from being pushed over the edge when you are already feeling overwhelmed. ย This way, you can have some downtime to recover and recharge.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 17 Self-Awareness

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Day 17: Self-Awareness:

Practice Self-Awareness by noticing how you’re sitting, your muscle tension levels, and your mood.

Notice how you feel:

physically
mentally
spiritually
energy level (on a scale of 0 – 10)
anxiety level (on a scale of 0 – 10)
joy or happiness level (on a scale of 0 – 10)

Consciously adjust once you become aware of what you’re feeling so that you may feel even better in the next moment.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 16 Pushing Thoughts Away

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Day 16 Pushing Thoughts Away:

There are times when we should consciously and mindfully put our thoughts on the shelf. ย This is the practice of letting go. ย e.g. if you read about violence in the media, it does not do any good to relive the traumatic thoughts. If you are spiritual, or religious, then you can say a prayer for the victim(s) and then consciously imagine the thought being put on a piece of paper and push it away.

When that thought starts to creep up again, say to yourself “STOP” and quickly redirect your attention to something else. ย This is different from denying that anything has ever happened. ย You are acknowledging what has happened and your feelings around it and then letting it go.

When we take care of ourselves by preventing re-victimization through thoughts, we are less likely to sabotage.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 15 Contributing

Day 15 Contributing:

Contributing is a skill listed under the Distress Tolerance module of DBT. ย Sometimes, the best medicine to feel better ourselves is to do something kind for someone else, and it can come in the form of the smallest of gestures, e.g. smile and hold the door open for someone else.

When we help others, we tend to forget our problems. ย For a moment, we remember that we can still do meaningful things, despite our circumstances.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 14 Relax

Day 14: Relax:

It can be very difficult to shift from a state of anxiety or stress into a state of relaxation, but with deliberate, conscious effort, it can be done. ย It can be easier to relax when we start having a regular relaxation practice each day.

List all the safe behaviors that help you relax, e.g. taking a bubble bath, listening to your favorite music and getting a massage, etc.

Every day, choose one behavior to help you relax and explore how that made you feel afterwards.

The next time you feel stressed or anxious, write down what the trigger was, and then practice your relationship exercises. ย Allow relaxation exercises to become a part of your daily life.

By calming down your nervous system, we send signals, or messages, to the brain that we are safe. ย These messages are eventually received, and the anxiety and panic fades away.

Just slowing down our breathing sends a message. ย Tensing and release our muscles sends a message. ย The physiological benefits we receive when we are very calm during a guided meditation send messages.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 13 Tapping into the Wise Mind

Day 3: ย Tapping into the Wise Mind:

Image your Wise Mind as the intersection between our Emotional Mind and our Reasonable Mind (Linehan, 1993).

Wise Mind, takes our emotional and rational thoughts into consideration and helps us find middle ground that will help us effectively cope with or get through a situation.

When under distress, choose to stay in the present moment and use your Wise Mind to stay calm and not make the situation worse. ย Realize that you are now safe, and am able to take care of yourself.

When you use your Wise Mind, you can come up with decisions from a place of wisdom instead of completely based on emotions or completely based on facts. ย From this place of honor, mindfulness, and consideration, we are more likely to make helpful decisions rather than sabotage.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso

Day 12 Think Dialectically

Day 12: ย Think Dialectically:

Sometimes we may experience the struggle between one part of us having a desire or thought, and another part of us experiencing the polar opposite desire or thought. ย e.g. “I hate you”, and “I don’t want you to leave me”.

This may be distressing and become difficult to make a wise decision. ย We may see our options as severely limited to the two polar opposite, black or white options that are coming to mind at the moment. Take some deep breaths, and tell yourself “Let me try to find the shades of grey”.

When we think in just black and white, we have only two extreme options. ย We may end up feeling trapped and anxious. ย Learn to compromise and find other options in the middle ground.

Source(s):

Stop Sabotaging: A 31 Day DBT Challenge to Change Your Life

by Debbie Corso