The Berkeley Well-Being Institute
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • PLR Content
    • All Access Pass
    • Article Packages
    • Courses
    • Social Media Posts

​Experiential Avoidance

By Tchiki Davis, MA, PhD
Emotional skills: Approaching Experiences
*This page may include affiliate links; that means I earn from qualifying purchases of products.

What is experiential avoidance?

Experiential avoidance refers to your tendency to avoid situations or emotions that you believe will be unpleasant. Approaching experiences is the opposite. You move towards experiencing new things, even if they are scary.

Why is it important to build this skill?

When you avoid experiences, you fail to learn how to deal with unpleasant emotions and can later become overwhelmed by them. By purposefully putting yourself in situations that challenge you a little at a time, you learn how to tolerate and cope with negative emotions and build the skills you need to thrive.
positivity, resilience, and mindfulness
​Activities to develop this skill:

Emotional processing

Behavioral Regulation: Emotion activity
To better regulate your behaviors you need to work on stopping the unhealthy processes that generate negative emotion. In this activity, you learn emotion skills to stop a variety of unhealthy emotional processes.

Positive Reappraisal

Behavioral Regulation: Emotion activity
Negative emotions are inevitable. But positive reappraisal can help you reframe a situations as more positive so that you hopefully want to approach them.

Sign up for more wellness... delivered right to your inbox.

Yes please!
Program for developing positive emotions
Picture
About Dr. Tchiki Davis
Dr. Davis is founder of The Berkeley Well-Being Institute. After getting her PhD in psychology at Berkeley, she started creating online content & programs to boost well-being—some of these have reached more than a million people. As author of Outsmart Your Smartphone, and contributor to Psychology Today, The Greater Good Science Center, and Shine Text, Dr. Davis aims to share her insights on happiness & health with people all across the world. Learn more about Dr. Davis.
Top Articles:
  • What is Happiness?
  • Your Happiness Plan
  • Stool Tests
  • Best Psychology Books
  • ​Healthy Products
  • ​More articles...
Programs:
  • Berkeley Happiness Program
  • Purpose-Driven Business Program
  • Stress Detox Program
  • ​More programs...​​
Products:
  • Happiness Skills Workbook
  • Positivity Workbook
  • Outsmart Your Smartphone Book
  • More products... ​
Terms, Privacy & Affiliate Disclosure  |   Contact   |   FAQs
* The Berkeley Well-Being Institute. LLC is not affiliated with UC Berkeley.
Copyright © 2023, The Berkeley Well-Being Institute, LLC
  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • PLR Content
    • All Access Pass
    • Article Packages
    • Courses
    • Social Media Posts