"Focus on what works," my DBT therapist likes to say.

A couple of days ago, as I mentioned in class just last night, I was feeling a bit gloomy and put on a playlist full of sad songs to match my mood. I was aware it's supposed to be *opposite* to emotion action, but I consciously chose to listen to the sad music because I wanted to. Note I was merely feeling gloomy, not in the throes of a deep depression, and I didn't necessarily want to change that. I told myself that if the sad music started worsening my mood, and it got unbearable, I'd turn it off and do something else. It didn't get unbearable. In fact, it was pretty cathartic. The DBT therapist seemed OK with this, because the more important thing was me being aware of how I was feeling, and choosing what to do about it rather than acting on impulse. I was in control of the situation, is what matters most.

It turns out, that was a DBT technique too. It was called "observe and describe" the emotion. I was also taking a "non-judgmental stance" by letting myself experience that without telling myself it was unhealthy, or I shouldn't.

I've heard people say they hate sad music because it makes them cry, and my response is, you probably had something in there you needed to cry about, and the music only brought it to the surface. People's opinions differ, but that's mine.