The Real Work with Maggie Sterling 14 - Radical Acceptance: What Finally Worked for My Chronic Anxiety
Nov 17, 2025
Discover how radical acceptance transformed one person's 20-year struggle with chronic anxiety. Learn why acceptance must precede therapies like CBT or EMDR to prevent resistance. The discussion illuminates the difference between acceptance and mere allowing while addressing mental resistance's role in sustaining anxiety. Uncover how acceptance can free up energy for change, reframing dysregulation as a supported state rather than a broken system. Ultimately, acceptance opens pathways to create the life you desire, rather than resigning to the current reality.
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Acceptance Before Intervention
- Maggie Sterling says acceptance must come before therapies like CBT or EMDR because using them to “fix” is resistance.
- She argues resistance keeps anxiety active by making the brain treat the issue as an ongoing threat.
EMDR Didn’t Resolve Her Anxiety
- Maggie Sterling shares that EMDR did not work for her despite recommendations after a brain scan.
- She links that failure partly to having so much invested in it as a cure rather than practicing acceptance first.
Put Down The Mental Fight
- Acceptance means mentally putting down the fight against your situation and acknowledging "this is where we're at."
- That shift stops urgent problem-fix attention that keeps the brain in threat mode.
