To Change Your Life, You First Must Accept It

As the notable psychotherapist Carl Rogers once said, “The curious paradox is when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change”.

This quote, and its meaning, provides the context for a very interesting article about acceptance and change written by California psychotherapist Rachel Fintzy Woods, MA, LMFT, and posted on PsychCentral, the online mental health journal.

In the article Woods describes 16 specific ways that Radical Acceptance can reduce emotional suffering and help people live a life that is happier and more fulfilling.

Acceptance and change are seemingly two ideas that are in opposition to each other. Yet together they form a “dialectic”, which is the synthesis, or joining together two opposing ideas to form a newer and larger concept.

Radical Acceptance plays a critical role in Marsha Linehan’s breakthrough Dialectical Behavior Therapy for the treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder, also known as DBT, and other mental health conditions. One element of DBT is to teach people skills that can effectively help them accept their situation then be able to make changes in their lives.