ACT Acceptance
Worksheet

Most people with ADHD have a well-practiced habit of fighting their own reactions. The frustration of missing a deadline triggers shame, which triggers self-criticism, which makes the next deadline harder to meet. The cycle is predictable, and it runs mostly unexamined.

This worksheet borrows from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which draws a hard line between experiencing a difficult thought and being controlled by it. The distinction matters because the typical response to ADHD-related difficulties - avoidance, self-blame, suppression - tends to amplify the very patterns it is trying to fix.

The six prompts here follow a deliberate sequence. You start by naming the concrete difficulties, then trace the emotional trail they leave, then look at what you actually do with those emotions. The middle section asks whether your current coping strategies are working - most people have never stopped to evaluate that directly. The final two prompts shift from analysis to practice: one gives you specific language for acceptance, the other uses a perspective shift to expose the gap between how you treat yourself and how you would treat someone you care about.

The prompts that feel easiest to write are the first two. The ones that produce the most change are the last two.