When there is a moment to notice that I’m able to take a step back and process what is coming up for me and reflect on the situation at hand, I know that I’m tapping into my problem solving strategies. This tells me I’m able to create that space for myself and that buffer that is no needed to pause and create some distance from the distress of the situation. This need to create that necessary pause and space to take time to reflect on the situation at hand and be able to approach the situation with some insight and tools helps me know that I’m able to tolerate the distress and am now trying to regulate the emotions around the situation causing the distress. This is what I learned to be tolerable distress through Dialetical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) by Marsha Linehan.

Tuning into these faculties takes time but is doable when the distress is tolerable. Making room for problem solving strategies is the need to not react to the emotion immediately and take time to pause and reflect to tap into the wise mind, per DBT. This way there is room for cues from both the emotional mind as well as the rational mind to allow for the wisdom to rise up to the surface. Here’s to creating the necessary space for ourselves…:)