Skip to content

DBT ACCEPTS Worksheet

Use short-term distraction deliberately when an immediate problem cannot yet be solved safely.

ACCEPTS is a DBT distress-tolerance skill: Activities, Contributing, Comparisons, Emotions, Pushing away, Thoughts and Sensations. It is intended to help a person survive a difficult moment without making it worse.

View printable worksheet
All distress-tolerance worksheets

Choose one strategy

  • Activities: Complete a safe, absorbing task.
  • Contributing: Offer appropriate help or kindness.
  • Comparisons: Notice change over time without minimising anyone’s pain.
  • Emotions: Use music, stories or activities that shift emotion safely.
  • Pushing away: Set the issue aside briefly and intentionally.
  • Thoughts: Focus attention on counting, puzzles or neutral details.
  • Sensations: Use safe sensory input.

Plan the return

Record when you will return to the underlying problem. Distraction becomes avoidance when it repeatedly replaces necessary decisions, treatment, communication or safety action.

Related resources

Evidence and source

This worksheet practises a skill described in Marsha M. Linehan’s DBT Skills Training Manual, Revised Edition (2025). The CounselorAid worksheet has not been independently validated as a treatment or outcome measure.

Evidence and editorial note

Resource type: Educational overview of a DBT skill or skills module. It supports learning and practice but is not comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

Evidence basis: Marsha M. Linehan’s DBT Skills Training Manual, Revised Edition (2025), official Behavioral Tech training information, current NICE guidance and peer-reviewed evidence reviews where treatment claims are discussed.

Review status: Written and evidence-checked by the CounselorAid editorial team. Last evidence review: 3 August 2026. No named independent clinical reviewer is being claimed. Please report factual or safety concerns through the contact page.

Important: This information cannot diagnose a condition, assess personal risk or replace care from an appropriately qualified professional. In an immediate crisis or medical emergency, use local emergency or crisis services.