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    Avoidance Act Skill

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    madishetyapoorva

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Avoidance Act Skill

    Uploaded by

    madishetyapoorva
    11 views2 pages

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

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    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    11 views2 pages

    Avoidance Act Skill

    Uploaded by

    madishetyapoorva

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    Confronting Avoidance

    ACT skill

    It’s normal to avoid or push away whatever feels intense or uncomfortable, but this only works for a while.
    Over time, resisting difficult thoughts and emotions makes them worse and drains your vitality. For a full
    and meaningful life, you must open to all of your inner experience—even the unpleasant parts.

    Commonly Avoided Experiences

    Thoughts Emotions Sensations

    Thoughts that evoke strong Any intense feelings, especially Physical discomfort or actual
    emotions, have disturbing ones that are heavier states, pain, particularly when part of a
    content, or trigger anxiety such as guilt, anger, or grief chronic condition

    Typical Avoidance Strategies

    Distraction Denial Projection Opting Out

    While useful in small This involves pushing When you don’t like If you’re unwilling to
    doses, distraction away difficult internal what you’re feeling, confront tough
    quickly becomes a way states so you don’t you may externalize it emotions, you may
    of resisting what you’re have to acknowledge onto others. This avoid people, places,
    experiencing. Examples or deal with them. allows you to avoid and situations that are
    include excessively Denial can work over taking ownership of likely to bring up
    watching TV, checking the short term, but it your feelings, viewing uncomfortable
    your phone, or soon traps you in a someone else as the feelings.
    overworking. fantasy world of your problem instead.
    own making.

    1. Name what you are avoiding.

    It’s common to try to avoid or suppress unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or sensations. Name what you
    push away most (e.g., anger, physical pain, difficult thought, etc.):

    What’s the cost of avoiding this and how could you benefit from confronting it?

    Provided by TherapistAid.com 1 © 2023 Therapist Aid LLC


    Confronting Avoidance
    ACT skill

    2. Examine your limiting beliefs.

    Your beliefs about your inner experience affect your willingness to be present to it. Write down two
    beliefs related to what you listed in the previous step, such as the belief that certain emotions or
    sensations are dangerous, wrong, or proof of weakness.

    1.

    2.

    Are these beliefs 100% true? If not, what would be a more balanced view?

    3. Welcome your difficult experiences.

    Opening to difficult experiences requires patience and an ongoing commitment. Identify a situation
    that often brings up the undesired thought, emotion, or sensation you previously identified:

    Describe two ways you can welcome this experience the next time it arises. This might be as simple as
    resisting distraction, allowing yourself to feel an emotion, choosing not to flee the situation, staying
    present to physical discomfort, or something else.

    1.

    2.

    Provided by TherapistAid.com 2 © 2023 Therapist Aid LLC

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