21. How To: Surf Urges and Tolerate Distress Using "TIP"

If there was ever a time to practice Distress Tolerance skills, it is now! Liza and Molly recorded this episode on election night, when they needed *all* the skills. After a quick review of the STOP skill, you will learn the skill of Urge Surfing, which is a mindfulness technique that helps you surf urges to engage in ineffective behaviors instead of acting on them, using your breath as your surfboard. After teaching the skill, Molly leads you through a guided Urge Surfing exercise, to help you put this skill into practice. Next, Liza and Molly introduce the TIP skills -- a TITW and DBT-fan favorite. The TIP skills include, 1) Tip the Temperature, 2) Intense Exercise, 3) Paced Breathing, and 4) Paired Muscle Relaxation. Molly and Liza practice Tipping the Temperature live on air, and Molly hilariously dunks her entire face in a bowl of cold water to help demonstrate how well this skill works. Finally, Liza leads you through a guided Paired Muscle Relaxation practice so you can relieve any remaining tension in your body before ending the episode. We hope you enjoy!

*To see visual demonstrations of the TIP skills, we recommend you check out the DBT-RU YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/c/DBTRU/videos

*Follow TITW on Instagram and Facebook @ TherapistsInTheWild, and Twitter @TherapistsWild. As always, feel free to email us with questions, special topic requests, or feedback at TherapistsInTheWild@gmail.com.