ABC PLEASE: a DBT skill for Emotion Regulation

Hello hello lovely people!

Emotions are part of our everyday life, where triggers lead to emotions, which then lead to actions. It is then extremely important to understand our emotions and the actions that come with them, so as to have better control over them, as some actions triggered are good while others could be counterproductive or harmful. The goal of emotion regulation is to decrease our vulnerability and increase our resiliency towards unwanted emotions, so as to improve mental health.

To work on understanding your emotions and now more about them, you can check our ongoing discussions on emotions here:

- identifying feelings and emotions

- the difference between feelings and emotions

- the timeline of feelings and emotions

- bodily sensations

- sadness

Today we’re going to focus on the skill called ABC PLEASE. Its purpose is to decrease vulnerability to experiencing unwanted emotions. It can actually be divided into two skills: the ABC skills and the PLEASE skills.

- ABC skills -

A is for Accumulate positive experiences

Things are considered to go well when there are more positive than negative things on the balance, that way the balance is tipping on the good side. The goal is to accumulate so many positive experiences that even if there is a bad one, the good ones will still outnumber the bad ones and the balance will stay on the good side. It is important to fill our balance with daily things we enjoy as well as working towards long-term goals.

B is for Build mastery

By working on the things we enjoy and getting better at them or learning new things, we feel successful and empowered, more confident that if we succeeded in an area then we can succeed in other areas as well.

C is for Cope ahead

Many times we know beforehand that we’ll be in an uncomfortable or challenging situation, or we know that some things can trigger us. This is a strength to use as it means we can prepare in advance for this situation, so as to know how to handle it or at least how to go through to it more smoothly or how to feel better afterwards.

- PLEASE skill -

The PLEASE skill goal is to make sure we’re on top of our physical health, as mental health is tightly connected with physical health. By being in our best physical shape and taking good care of our bodies, we’re less susceptible to negative emotions. It includes:

- treat PhysicaL illness

- balanced Eating

- avoid mood Altering drugs (when non-prescribed)

- balanced Sleep

- Exercise

Discussion questions ~

What positive experiences could you add to your daily life? (they can be extra simple!)

What do you think about coping ahead?

Do you feel this skill could be beneficial for you? Are you already using it?

Sources:

https://www.sunrisertc.com/dbt-emotion-regulation-skills/

https://dbt.tools/emotional_regulation/abc-please.php