Curiosity is the engine.Tools · ACT
Decide what to do with a difficult feeling
Notice a feeling and decide what to do next
Use this worksheet when a strong feeling is affecting an ordinary decision. Name what concerns you, check what is happening around you and decide what you want to do. You do not have to make the feeling disappear first. You want to decline an invitation but worry that your friend will be hurt. You can notice that worry, decide that honesty matters, and send a kind, direct reply. If you need more time to decide, you can say that too.
Before you type anything
This worksheet does not send, save, or track anything you type. Entries stay in the page until you clear it or leave. Your own browser, keyboard, or extensions may still process what you type, so do not enter anyone's name or identifying details.
What this tool can't do
- Emergency, crisis, trauma processing, exposure instructions, diagnosis, or individualized treatment
- Deciding that a situation is safe, dismissing real danger, or overriding a protective boundary
- Forcing mindfulness, emotional disclosure, acceptance, positivity, or action
- Replacing individualized medical care, psychotherapy, or a facilitated group
When to stop and use another route
- Pause if looking inward feels unsafe, overwhelming, dissociating, or destabilizing. Keep your eyes open, look at something in the room, skip any step, or leave the exercise.
- For immediate danger call 9-1-1. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8 for suicide crisis support. Public tools do not replace individualized care.
The questions
The whole exercise stays visible, and every question is optional. Start with the question that catches something useful, leave anything blank, and stop when the exercise stops helping.
Describe what you are worried about
Validation comes before any invitation to choose or change what happens next.
Write a few words. A concern can make sense even when you do not yet know whether its prediction is accurate.
0 / 2,000 characters
Notice the thought and the situation around you
Use only the attention, distance, and willingness prompts that feel workable in this moment.
Keep your eyes open. Use an ordinary fact, such as the words in a message or what the person has actually said. You can skip this step.
0 / 2,000 characters
For example: “I am having the thought that they will be angry if I say no.” You do not need to argue with it.
0 / 500 characters
For example: “I am noticing worry and an urge to say yes immediately.” Describe an experience rather than judging your whole character.
0 / 2,000 characters
Decide what to say or do
A direction can include action, pausing, protection, more information, or asking for support.
Choose a quality such as honesty, care or fairness. For example, you might want to answer honestly while being considerate.
0 / 500 characters
Write the words or action. Pausing, asking for information, protecting a boundary or getting help can be the right next action.
0 / 2,000 characters
For example: having more time, asking someone to join you or moving the conversation to a private place.
0 / 2,000 characters
What you have so far
Your direction note
Your own words, kept in order — not a score, an interpretation, or a treatment recommendation.
- THE ALARM
- No entry yet
- NOTICED
- No entry yet
- DIRECTION
- No entry yet
- NEXT ACTION
- No entry yet
- SUPPORT
- No entry yet
This is a structured copy of your own entries. The tool does not score, interpret, diagnose, predict, or recommend.
Keep it or clear it
There is no submit button. Use Print if you choose to keep a copy, then Clear before leaving.
Before you use this to make a decision
Look at the action you wrote. Decide whether you can try it now, need support or want to pause. A worksheet cannot determine whether a situation is safe.
Sources and limitations
What the evidence does not establish
- This reflection has not been validated as a treatment or as a stand-alone intervention.
- The cited ACT literature supports a broader model and studied interventions; it does not show that this exact sequence will help every person or situation.
- Acceptance means allowing an internal experience to be present when workable. It does not mean liking it, agreeing with it, resigning yourself, or accepting harm.
- Values are chosen directions for action, not goals, scores, personality types, or demands to perform wellness.
- Every prompt is optional, including the external-attention and acceptance prompts.
The sources behind the structure
- Association for Contextual Behavioral Science — ACT's six core processes ↗Professional description of psychological flexibility and the six-process model.
- Dindo et al. (2021) — one-day acceptance and commitment training randomized trial ↗Small trial with important sample and generalizability limits.
- Hayes et al. (2006) — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: model, processes and outcomes ↗Foundational model and evidence review; not validation of this public worksheet.
Related writing