Josh Hillebrand LCSW

One of my favorite skills from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is the ACE skill which is also known as dropping anchor.

Imagine you’re on a boat that is trying to get into the harbor. And suddenly there is a huge storm that appears out of nowhere. There are huge waves rocking the boat, horizontal rain, high winds. What should the boat do? If it tries to continue moving towards the harbor, it’s likely going to crash against the rocks, capsize, or get swept out to the sea. So, the boat needs to drop its anchor and wait for the storm to pass.

Same thing for us when we’re hit by an emotional storm. If we’re suddenly overwhelmed by anxiety or rage or guilt or shame, and we try to take action when the emotions are raging, we’re at great risk of making the situation worse. So, these are perfect times for dropping our own anchor to ride out the storm and to get grounded. We can do that with the ACE skill:

• Acknowledge our thoughts and feelings
  • “I’m noticing there’s a lot of anxiety/anger/guilt/shame/hurt present”
  • “I’m having the thought I want to punch that guy in the face”
  • “I’m having the thought that I’ll never be able to recover from this”
• Connect with our body
  • Do any type of movement like clenching and unclenching fists, stretching, or yoga poses
  • Notice with curiosity any body sensations and watch them and how they fluctuate and change moment-to-moment
  • Try sitting in a chair and pressing your feet into the ground
• Engage with the present moment
  • Pay attention to what is actually present for you on a very literal level
  • Look around the room that you’re in and describe objects that you see (shape, color, design)
  • Remind yourself of what time and day it is
  • Ask yourself, what’s going to be helpful for me to focus on and then focus on whatever you identify

Now please note that in the same way that a ship dropping its anchor will not have any affect on the stormy weather, the ACE skill might not get rid of the emotional storm you’re experiencing But that’s not the goal of this skill anyway. It’s to help you stay grounded or anchored until the storm passes, and then you can more effectively respond to the situation later.

You can practice this skill throughout the day, even for a few seconds, and even if no emotional storm is present. I sometimes practice the ACE skill when brushing my teeth!