Skip to main content
Psychoeducation~5 min

ACCEPTS: choosing a temporary distraction

Plan safe distractions using ACCEPTS when distress is strong and the problem needs to wait. Choose an activity, then review what helped you get through the moment.

Written by Tarun Vermani, Trainee Clinical Psychologist Last reviewed

Assign to a clientDownload PDFTry the preview ↓

Assign and Download open signup, then return you to this worksheet. No card required. Resource access depends on your plan or trial. Already have an account? Sign in

Worksheet preview

Preview
Sometimes you need a short break from a problem before you can respond to it safely. ACCEPTS offers seven ways to direct your attention elsewhere for a while. Choose one that is available and safe for you; you can try another if it does not help. Keep the break temporary. Plan to return to the concern, perhaps with your therapist, when you have enough support to do so. Comparisons should remind you of your ability to cope, never suggest that your pain is unimportant. Setting something aside briefly does not mean suppressing it indefinitely. If you feel unable to stay safe or have thoughts of harming yourself, seek help now from your therapist or GP. In an emergency, call 999. Samaritans offers free emotional support on 116 123. A worksheet cannot provide crisis care or replace professional support. ACCEPTS is a distress tolerance skill from Marsha M. Linehan’s dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) skills training. Reference: Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Live preview — type in any field to try it. Nothing is saved here.

Making room before responding

ACCEPTS can help you delay an urge that could cause harm while you get through a period of high distress. It offers Activities, Contributing, Comparisons, Emotions, Pushing away, Thoughts and Sensations. The difficulty may still need attention later; this is a planned pause, not a permanent solution.

ACCEPTS is a distress tolerance skill from Marsha M. Linehan’s dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) skills training. Reference: Linehan, M. M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual (2nd ed.). Guilford Press.

Choose from ACCEPTS

Look for something you can safely do in your current surroundings. Mark any options you would like to try. More than one can be useful, but there is no need to complete the whole list.

ACCEPTS options I can use safely

Prepare distractions that fit your life

Write specific, available choices so that you have less to decide when distressed. Include a first option you could start easily and consider when to return to the original concern.

Notice what changed

Record your distress before and after trying a distraction. Consider whether it helped you avoid acting on an unsafe urge, even if the feeling stayed strong. If you remain unsafe, seek help rather than relying on another exercise.

No distressMiddle of the scaleMaximum distress
Choose a value
No distressMiddle of the scaleMaximum distress
Choose a value

Try it here — nothing you type is saved. Sign up to assign it and let clients complete it on any device.

When to use ‘ACCEPTS: choosing a temporary distraction’

‘ACCEPTS: choosing a temporary distraction’ is an interactive dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT) worksheet. Consider this resource when exploring how a client responds to intense emotions, distress or relationship difficulties, and where acceptance or a change in response might fit.

It is designed to be used within therapy rather than as a standalone self-help tool: a therapist introduces it, works through it collaboratively, and helps make sense of what it surfaces. You can preview the full worksheet above, then assign it digitally for clients to complete between sessions on any device or download it as a print-ready PDF.

How it works

Most people work through it in around 5 minutes. It moves through four short steps:

  1. Making room before responding: ACCEPTS can help you delay an urge that could cause harm while you get through a period of high distress. It offers Activities,…
  2. Choose from ACCEPTS: Look for something you can safely do in your current surroundings. Mark any options you would like to try. More than one can be useful, but…
  3. Prepare distractions that fit your life: Write specific, available choices so that you have less to decide when distressed. Include a first option you could start easily and…
  4. Notice what changed: Record your distress before and after trying a distraction. Consider whether it helped you avoid acting on an unsafe urge, even if the…

Completed on the Formulate platform, your client's answers are saved automatically and shared straight back to you, so you can review them before the next session rather than waiting for a paper copy to come back.

The DBT approach behind it

‘ACCEPTS: choosing a temporary distraction’ draws on dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT). DBT brings acceptance and change together: recognising an experience as it is while considering a different response. Its skills include mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. These offer ways to notice what is happening, stay with difficult moments, understand emotions and communicate needs. The therapist and client can consider which skills fit the situation.

It is intended as one part of a wider course of therapy rather than as advice or a diagnosis. The therapist can help decide how it fits the work and discuss what emerges.

Evidence & sources

This worksheet draws on dialectical behaviour therapy. Key sources include:

  • Linehan, M.M. (2015). DBT Skills Training Manual (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
  • Linehan, M.M. (1993). Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder. New York: Guilford Press.

For use alongside professional support

Formulate provides educational CBT resources for use with a qualified therapist. They are not a substitute for professional assessment, diagnosis, or crisis care.

If you need urgent help now:

  • Emergency services: 999 — if you or someone else is in immediate danger
  • Samaritans: 116 123 — free, day or night, 365 days a year
  • SANEline: 0800 689 5555 — 4:30pm–10:30pm, every day

More Psychoeducation worksheets

View all Psychoeducation worksheets →

Psychoeducation

Understanding the CBT Model

An introduction to how thoughts, feelings, body sensations and behaviour connect in a loop, and how CBT uses this to help you feel differently.

Formulation~10 minInteractive

Psychoeducation

The Stress Response: Fight, Flight or Freeze

An explainer on how the body's threat system works, why the physical feelings of fear are uncomfortable but harmless, and why false alarms happen.

Handout~7 min

Psychoeducation

Understanding Core Beliefs

A plain-language explainer on the levels of thinking in CBT: automatic thoughts, underlying assumptions, and the deep core beliefs about ourselves, others, and the world.

Handout~12 min

Psychoeducation

The Window of Tolerance

A plain-language guide to your window of tolerance: the zone where you can think, feel, and cope. Learn what it looks like when you go above it (overwhelmed) or below it (shut down), and simple ways to come back.

Handout~10 min

Psychoeducation

The Three Emotion Systems

A simple introduction to the three systems that shape our feelings: threat, drive, and soothe. Learn why modern life and self-criticism can leave the soothe system underused, and how compassion helps bring them back into balance.

Handout~10 min

Psychoeducation

Naming Your Emotions

Putting accurate words to feelings can lower how strong they feel. This handout explains the idea of name it to tame it and gives you an emotion-word list, from basic feelings out to more precise ones, to help you say what is going on inside.

Handout~8 min

Want to assign this to a client?

Create a free therapist account to use the homework and library download tools. Clients can complete assigned homework online or use a blank PDF. See how the homework workflow works.

Create free accountBrowse the library

No card required. The Free plan includes 10 worksheet uses a month. Check plan access and limits.