Radical Acceptance Examples

It’s natural for people to protect themselves by rejecting information that is unpleasant or painful. Even when the facts of a situation are clear, they might be rejected at an emotional level.

In dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), radical acceptance means accepting information both mentally and emotionally, without judgment. This doesn’t mean that you like or condone something—only that you accept it as a reality.

Radical acceptance is a notoriously difficult topic to teach, and to grasp fully . We created the Radical Acceptance Examples worksheet as a tool for teaching this concept through realistic anecdotes. Each vignette depicts a person accepting the reality of a difficult situation rather than rejecting it.

For an overview of radical acceptance and other DBT distress tolerance skills, check out the DBT Distress Tolerance Skills worksheet.