Half-Smiling + Willing Hands

When your body is rigid — fists, jaw, shoulders. It’s one of the DBT distress tolerance skills, and the skills picker can route a client here in the moment.

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The free DBT skills picker asks what’s happening right now and routes to a skill to try.

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When to reach for Half-Smiling + Willing Hands

When your body is rigid — fists, jaw, shoulders.

How to practice Half-Smiling + Willing Hands

Soften your face. Not a real smile — just relax the muscles around your eyes and mouth.
The corners of your mouth turn up slightly. Almost imperceptibly.
Open your hands. Palms up if you can. Let them rest on your legs or beside you.
Stay 60 seconds. The body teaches the mind that resistance can release.

If it doesn’t help: the DBT skills picker routes next to TIPP. Different skills land for different people and moments — trying the next-best fit is part of the method, not a failure.

Tracking Half-Smiling + Willing Hands on a diary card

Whether a client used Half-Smiling + Willing Hands — and whether it helped — is exactly what a DBT diary card captures. Recording skill use day by day is how you see, in session, whether distress tolerance skills are generalizing.

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Build a custom diary card that tracks the skills you’re working on, or track it digitally in Theracharts.

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FAQ

What is Half-Smiling + Willing Hands in DBT?

Half-Smiling + Willing Hands is a DBT distress tolerance skill. When your body is rigid — fists, jaw, shoulders.

When should I use Half-Smiling + Willing Hands?

Reach for half-smiling + willing hands when your body is rigid — fists, jaw, shoulders.

In crisis? Call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, US) — free, confidential, 24/7. This page is educational and is not therapy, diagnosis, or a substitute for professional care.