Okay, so that the H.O.W of AA but it is also very integral in the therapeutic setting.

I have found honesty to be particularly critical in the "process" of doing therapy. If I'm not completely honest with my T about where I'm at, what's going on, what I want and need, etc I won't gain the FULL benefit of therapy. Honesty can be quite painful at times...but I have learned that facing the pain of the truth immediately lessens the sting a bit than if I wait until I get a cold, hard slap in the face with it. It's difficult at times but definitely necessary.

Open-minded. This has been the biggest difference in me between my last therapist and this one. I have to remain as open as I possible as I can to ALL possible solution/processes.

For example: my biggest problem when I entered therapy was an inability to regulate my emotions. I have re-entered DBT in November and it has helped. However, the real huge difference was never even spoken by anyone and that was a huge change in my diet...and it's probably been the biggest difference maker thus far...partly spurred on by my willingness to take and USE the skills suggested in DBT.

Willingness kind of coincides with open-mind for me. I had to be willing to try the solutions/processes given by my T whether I truly believed they'd work for me or not. Most of the time some adaptation was necessary...then it worked. I had to be willing to try things in order to find what worked for me...otherwise everything is simply hypothetical in my case because I haven't tried to apply the "skills" given to me.

For example: DBT: PLEASE part of PLEASE MASTER. A part of that is eating balanced. Well for me that meant being willing to completely revamp my diet. For others it might just mean smaller portions 5-6 times a day versus 3 big meals. The point is I had to be willing to try something and then let it grow from there...because in the beginning of this complete diet change was just the goal of eating healthier. For me that meant more fruits and veggies. From there it grew into a complete diet change for me.

If I hadn't tried something small I would have never known that my diet was playing such a huge role in my mood dysregulation.

Any thoughts are welcome. But just posted as food for thought.

Sorry for the length.