ACT: stepping back and making room · worksheet 30
You can’t adjust your anxiety like a thermostat. But you can choose how willing you are to feel it in order to do something that matters to you. That is the willingness dial.
Before you start
- What it is for: To choose consciously to open up to discomfort in order to do something important, instead of waiting to be less afraid.
- About 10 minutes before an action you find hard.
- Anxiety is like the volume of a radio you don’t fully control. Willingness is another knob, one that does depend on you: how much you are willing to feel in order to do what matters to you.
- If your willingness is low, don’t give up: make the action smaller.
Prefer paper? Download the PDF to print (with a page for psychologists).
What to do with your results
Compare anxiety and willingness: you can act with a lot of anxiety if your willingness is high. If your willingness is low, the action was too big: make it smaller.
If you find it hard
Willingness can’t be forced: link the action to a value that really matters to you (worksheets 33 and 34).
For psychologists
The PDF also includes a page for the psychologist: how to run the exercise in session, points to watch and scientific references. You are free to use it with your clients.
For psychologists: aim, audience and duration
Introduce the notion of “willingness”: not the level of anxiety, which cannot be controlled, but the degree of openness to discomfort that one chooses in order to do something important.
Avoidance, anxious procrastination, preparing an exposure or a committed action. Duration: 10 min in session; before each difficult action.
References
Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D. & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: The Process and Practice of Mindful Change (2nd ed.). Guilford.
Harris, R. (2019). ACT Made Simple: An Easy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2nd ed.). New Harbinger.
These worksheets do not replace therapy. If you are in distress or having suicidal thoughts, call your local emergency number (112 in Europe; 3114 in France, free, 24/7).
Free worksheet for non-commercial use: you may share it with credit to the author, without modifying it (Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence).
