Distress Tolerance
Handle crises without making everything worse.
This module view helps frame distress tolerance as a coherent DBT space for crisis survival and short-term stabilization.
When does this fit?
Helpful when acute strain, high tension, or the question of what needs to be stabilized first is in the foreground.
How this module space is structured
The module view groups its primary entries into readable sections. At the top you only see the structure, below that the full content body.
Areas
5
Primary entries
26
All primary areas in this module
This overview shows every primary module entry exactly once and organizes them into readable sections instead of competing recommendation lists.
Crisis survival & first sequences
These are the primary bundles and protocols for acute interruption, first stabilization, and fast crisis logic.
Crisis Survival Strategies
When a crisis has to be survived without making it worse.
STOP Skill
When an impulse or moment of escalation needs to be interrupted immediately before it drags you further.
Also in: Emotion Regulation · Interpersonal Effectiveness
TIP Skills
When extreme tension needs to be quickly regulated through the body.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
REST Strategy
When you need a short interruption and collection phase before other skills can take effect.
Also in: Mindfulness · Emotion Regulation
Bundle steps in detail
These entries break STOP and TIP down into their concrete steps and are better for precise walkthrough than broad overview.
STOP: Stop
If any automatic further reaction must first be stopped.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
STOP: Take a Step Back
When distance is needed so that you don't act immediately out of excitement.
STOP: Observe
When, after interrupting, you first have to notice what is really happening.
Also in: Emotion Regulation · Mindfulness
STOP: Proceed Mindfully
If you want to continue acting consciously and not reflexively after the interruption.
Also in: Emotion Regulation · Mindfulness
TIP: Temperature
When strong physical activation needs to be reduced quickly via temperature stimuli.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
TIP: Intense Exercise
When excess high voltage must first be reduced through intensive exercise.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
TIP: Paced Breathing
When breathing should be used specifically to shut down the system.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
TIP: Paired Muscle Relaxation
When physical tension needs to be systematically released in order to become calmer again.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
Soothing & down-regulation
This area groups direct calming, sensory self-regulation, and body-near relief when tension has to come down first.
Improving the Moment
When the moment cannot be resolved immediately, but needs to be carried differently internally.
Also in: Mindfulness · Emotion Regulation
Physiological Coping Skills
When the body needs to be regulated directly before thinking or speaking becomes possible again.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
Self-Soothing
When your system needs reassurance and friendly self-regulation first.
Also in: Mindfulness · Emotion Regulation
Cue-Controlled Relaxation
When a linked signal is intended to lead the body into relaxation more quickly.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
Safe-Place Visualization
When inner images of security are needed to reduce excitement and overwhelm.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
Acceptance & reality work
These entries lead from fighting facts toward accepting, re-turning, and willingness.
Reality Acceptance
When resistance against unchangeable reality increases the pain.
Radical Acceptance
When resistance increases suffering and reality must first be acknowledged.
Also in: Emotion Regulation · Mindfulness
Turning the Mind
When you know acceptance, but inside you keep tipping back into rejection.
Also in: Emotion Regulation · Mindfulness
Willingness
When not only insight but open willingness to take the next step is missing.
Also in: Emotion Regulation · Mindfulness
Clear Mind
When false security must be made visible before a relapse occurs.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
Relapse-near stabilization
This area focuses relapse proximity, abstinence logic, and actively stabilizing a workable environment.
Dialectical Abstinence
When sticking with it without relapse has to be combined with realistic handling of missteps.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
Community Reinforcement
When an environment conducive to abstinence must be actively developed.
Also in: Interpersonal Effectiveness · Emotion Regulation
Planning for Dialectical Abstinence Worksheet
When dialectical abstinence has to be translated into a real written relapse-and-return plan instead of remaining a good principle.
Also in: Emotion Regulation
Reinforcing Nonaddictive Behaviors Worksheet
When community reinforcement needs to be translated into concrete new rewards, routines, and alternatives that support abstinence in everyday life.
Also in: Interpersonal Effectiveness · Emotion Regulation