Radical Acceptance Worksheet: Challenging Clients’ Denial

Download this free worksheet PDF to help clients identify and overcome denial

Denial acts as an emotional defence mechanism where a problem may be unconsciously recognized and understood, but consciously denied or not accepted. In the short term, it can feel far more comfortable to ‘put your head in the sand’, but in the longer term, this may only make things worse.Accepting reality as it is and acknowledging our emotions and circumstances, even if they are painful, enables us to be able to change the situation or adapt to it more healthily. We cannot change what we only ignore or dismiss.The Radical Acceptance Worksheet is a therapeutic tool designed to guide clients through accepting reality as it is, without judgement. This concept, central to dialectical behaviour therapy (DBT), helps clients confront and manage denial, a common barrier to emotional healing.The worksheet enables therapists to help clients embrace their thoughts, emotions, and circumstances, shifting how they deal with life’s challenges.By working through the exercises with your client, you will help them:

• Understand denial: Recognize and explore denial and the emotional needs driving it.
• Practice acceptance: Learn to fully accept their current situation, recognizing that acceptance is crucial for subsequent change or adaptation.
• Address emotional needs: Identify unmet primal human needs that may fuel denial and encourage healthier strategies to meet these needs.

And through reflections on example scenarios, as well as the client’s own personal reflection and strategy development, you’ll see the benefits of:

• Reduced emotional suffering: Clients learn to reduce pain by letting go of futile resistance against reality.
• Enhanced coping strategies: Promote healthier adaptations to adversities through acceptance.
• Improved therapeutic engagement: Deepen the therapeutic relationship by providing clients with a supportive environment for significant growth and engaging them in their own therapeutic process.

The Radical Acceptance Worksheet is a useful tool for therapists looking to integrate acceptance techniques into their practice and help clients develop the skills to practise acceptance and so improve their mental health. An editable version of this worksheet is free to members of Uncommon Practitioners’ TV. Related article: How to Use Radical Acceptance Therapy with Your Clients