At times, it can be helpful to focus on building skills and developing the tools to help cope with stress, interpersonal challenges, and strong emotions. This can be especially true when difficult or destructive behaviors present barriers to deeper exploration.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) provides a framework to explore values – the sacred compass held within – and to practice mindfulness and acceptance strategies, in conjunction with commitment and behavior change strategies, in order to make choices in services of personal values. ACT teaches us that a meaningful life comes from pursuing values rather than avoiding pain, and invites us to cultivate the willingness to experience the pain of life so that we may also fully experience joy and fulfillment.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is also a mindfulness-based treatment modality with significant research support for its efficacy in helping to manage difficult emotions. This can be particularly helpful for people who feel “undercontrolled” in their lives and need some structure for learning how to manage intense emotions, interpersonal difficulties, and impulsive or destructive actions.