9. How To: Act Opposite to Emotion Urges

This week, Liza and Molly share examples of Checking the Facts to regulate emotions. Molly gives tips for changing interpretations when having trouble falling asleep, and Liza talks about a time when asking another person to Check the Facts for you can successfully alleviate anxiety. We then introduce one possible "step 3" in your emotion regulation playbook by describing one of our all-time favorite skills: Opposite Action, which can be used when your emotion and/or emotional intensity does not fit the facts, and/or it would be not be effective to act on your emotion urge. We teach you the steps of Opposite Action through the examples of combating both pandemic-related depression and "white fragility." Instead of our typical coaching, we end the episode by sharing our story of using Opposite Action to start the podcast. We hope you enjoy!