The WAVE Skill

The Wave Skill: Mindfulness of Current Emotions

EXPERIENCE YOUR EMOTION

• Observe your feeling.

• Step back and just notice it.

• Get unstuck.

• Experience it as a WAVE, coming and going.

• Don’t try to GET RID of it or PUSH it away.

• And don’t try to HOLD ON to it.

PRACTICE MINDFULNESS OF EMOTIONAL BODY SENSATIONS

• Notice WHERE in your body you are feeling emotional sensations.

• Experience the SENSATIONS as fully as you can.

REMEMBER: YOU ARE NOT YOUR EMOTION

• You don’t need to ACT on the feeling.

• Remember times when you have felt differently.

DON’T JUDGE YOUR EMOTION

• Radically accept it as part of you.

• Invite it home for dinner; name the emotion.

• Practice willingness to experience the emotion.

Reference: From DBT® Skills Manual for Adolescents, by Jill H. Rathus and Alec L. Miller. Copyright 2015 by The Guilford Press.