The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook for Anxiety

170 The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook

ExAMPLE: LINDA’S OPPOSITE-A CTION PLANNING WORKSHEET

Emotion Emotion-Driven

Behavior

Opposite

Action

Time Period Outcomes

Feeling rejected,

angry

1. Withdrawing

2. Attacking

3. Little

revenges

Say what hurt

me in a soft,

nonattacking

voice. Be

civil; end the

conversation

quickly. Do

something for

myself rather than

planning revenge.

As long as the

conversation lasts

My conversations

were calmer, they

didn’t escalate

into fights. I

expressed how I

felt in a civil way.

Guilt 1. Being

“phony nice”

2. Attacking

Apologize straight

up, but let people

know I don’t

like how I was

treated.

As long as the

conversation lasts

People appreci-

ated my honesty.

I expressed how I

felt in an honest

way.

Over several weeks, Linda monitored her opposite-action outcomes to see how the new
behavior worked. What she found was that her anger passed more quickly when she followed her
opposite-action plan. Using a quiet voice and saying out loud what hurt her seemed to soften the
upset. At first, she had been afraid to acknowledge her feelings of rejection because it made her
more vulnerable. But after trying it several times (for example, telling her father she was sad not to
be with him on Christmas day), Linda found that her anger often shifted to something less sharp,
less painful. And she spent less time ruminating about ways she felt victimized.
Opposite action isn’t easy. We won’t pretend that it is. But opposite action quickly dulls the
razor edge of overwhelming emotions. Fear often turns to empowerment, sadness to engagement,
anger to detachment, and shame and avoidance to willingness. Planning opposite-action strategies
can give you an incredibly effective tool for emotion regulation.