Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.

Rather than teaching you to change or avoid your painful emotions, distress tolerance skills encourage you to experience these emotions in a safe way. Doing so is essential for personal growth and to avoid being emotionally “stuck.”

Painful emotions are sometimes unavoidable, and there will be times when changing your emotion is ineffective and/or impossible. 

Without skillfully handling distressing situations, many people resort to harmful coping methods. Though these methods may relieve emotional pain in the short-term, they lead to even more distress and suffering long-term. 

Proper, patient, and repetitive use of these skills will keep you from experiencing emotional pain longer than necessary.