You didn’t have one hard thing. Ninety seconds later you had three.
Acceptance is the first word in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and the process that gets explained worst. This episode is the plain version: what acceptance actually means, what it is not, and how to practice it.
What you will learn:
- The definition, plainly: letting a feeling, a thought, or a sensation be there, without trying to change it, and without judging it
- The three moves that happen in the first ninety seconds, and why they leave you with more than you started with
- Why acceptance is never about your circumstances.
- Four skills to choose from to practice acceptance.
- The silver lining question: a lesson you found shows up days later, a lesson you made shows up in eight seconds.
Table of Contents
Show notes with time-stamps
0:00 The three moves we make when uncomfortable feelings arrive
0:56 Intro to acceptance & ACT
1:57 What acceptance is: letting feelings be there without changing or judging them
2:09 Acceptance covers feelings, thoughts, and physical sensations
2:34 “Letting it be there” means not doing anything to those experiences
3:26 Don’t judge the feeling or yourself for having it
3:57 Acceptance is not liking or approving of the feeling
4:11 Acceptance is making room for internal experience, not accepting bad situations
5:11 Why fighting feelings backfires, and they come back heavier
6:02 The goal: getting better at feeling, not feeling better
6:15 Acceptance is practiced in ordinary everyday moments
7:02 Skill 1: Unclench – let your body stop fighting
8:03 Skill 2: Find the feeling and give it room
8:52 Skill 3: Drop the self-judgment
9:58 Skill 4: Let the feeling come with you
10:53 The trap of replacing feelings with quick “lessons”
Listen Here
Resources mentioned
- Values-Based Review: Life Audit (free) → https://proud-snow-5694.ck.page/d2a5e77ba3
- Playing-It-Safe Questionnaire (free) → https://www.thisisdoctorz.com/playing-it-safe-questionnaire/
- ACT Coaching for anxiety-based struggles → https://eastbaybehaviortherapycenter.com/act-coaching/
- Therapy at East Bay Behavior Therapy Center → https://eastbaybehaviortherapycenter.com/
