Trauma survivors must all deal with their sometimes painful and out-of-control lives. Avoidance strategies, such as social withdrawal and ignoring feelings, are means which some survivors use to cope with distress. Introduce the concept of "distress tolerance" and the skills associated with it to your clients as alternative interventions in their ability to deal with distress.
Distress tolerance is the ability to endure pain or hardship without resorting to actions or behaviors that are damaging to your clients or others. In this session, you will familiarize your clients with the concept of distress tolerance and assist in identifying the actions associated with their distress.
Skillful distress tolerance is especially important when we want to make changes in our lives. Managing anxiety and other feelings in order to make changes or accomplish goals that are important to us requires the ability to tolerate distress.
Work with your clients to help them understand why it is beneficial for them to learn how to recognize and tolerate distress.
