Opposite Action Worksheet
Opposite action only works if you're specific. Pick the emotion, answer two questions about it, and this builds the actual plan — what to do, with your body, in the next ten minutes. Free, nothing saved, nothing sent.
Build Your Plan
Four steps. The third one is where most people skip ahead — don't.
1 Which emotion is running?
2 What's the urge?
3 Does the emotion fit the facts?
Not "is it real" — it's real either way. Does it match what's actually happening?
Your opposite action plan
The Part People Get Wrong
Opposite action is not suppression. You aren't talking yourself out of the feeling or pretending it isn't there. You feel it completely — and you change what your body does. The emotion tends to shift afterwards, which is the reverse of the order most people expect, and it's why the skill feels wrong the first few times you use it.
And it has to go all the way. Half-approaching something you're afraid of, while still scanning the exits, teaches your nervous system that the thing was dangerous and you got lucky. Approach fully, stay long enough for the fear to actually come down, and repeat it. That's the whole mechanism.
For the full explanation of the skill and where it sits in emotion regulation, read Opposite Action (DBT Skill) and The Four DBT Skill Modules.
More Free DBT Tools
- DEAR MAN Worksheet — build a script for asking for something or saying no.
- DBT Skills Finder — answer two questions, get a skill for right now.
- DBT Glossary — every acronym, decoded.
- DBT Skills Classes — learn them properly, in person or online across Colorado.