ABSTRACT
Radical acceptance and reality acceptance are skills within the Distress Tolerance module in DBT treatment. The author has created a separate chapter for several reasons. Linehan notes all persons have a tendency to turn their minds away from reality whenever reality is painful. DBT emphasizes “Turning the Mind” back to reality whenever we have slipped into rejecting reality. The present author has provided 23 examples of Reality and Radical Acceptance for the purpose of motivating the reader to keep turning their mind back to accepting reality on a daily basis. Linehan teaches that accepting reality, even realities that are painful, actually makes our life less painful. All persons will encounter pain, but rejecting reality increases the pain and leads to being enslaved in ongoing bitterness and suffering. Another important point of this chapter is that accepting reality is the first step toward changing the reality (if it can be changed). This chapter shares the stories of persons who endured tremendous misfortune, and yet (in the words of Marsha Linehan) have built a life worth living. Persons are encouraged by the stories of Helen Keller, Jackie Robinson, Nelson Mandela, or many of the lesser known examples included in this book.
