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Intro to Defusion Lecture, Part 2

A few months ago I gave an introductory lecture on the ACT concept of defusion to a group of professionals that are participating in an online learning community called Practice Ground, led by Kelly Koerner, a well-known trainer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Make sure you check out part 1 before you listen to part 2, [...]

By |May 9th, 2008|General Blog Items|Comments Off on Intro to Defusion Lecture, Part 2

Intro to Defusion Lecture, Part 1

A few months ago I gave an introductory lecture on the ACT concept of defusion to a group of professionals that are participating in an online learning community called Practice Ground, led by Kelly Koerner, a well-known trainer of Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Let me know if you have any feedback. I hope you enjoy them. [...]

By |May 8th, 2008|General Blog Items|Comments Off on Intro to Defusion Lecture, Part 1

A Walk in the Forest: ACT and Ecopsychology

It turns out that if ecopsychology and ACT met on a mountain path, they would have quite a bit to say to each other. […]

By |March 31st, 2008|General Blog Items|Comments Off on A Walk in the Forest: ACT and Ecopsychology

3rd Wave Relationships: ACT with Couples

The six core therapeutic processes of ACT have a lot to say about the successful functioning of intimate relationships. There is some good work already out there on this topic. This post mentions some of that work, and includes some of my own brief musings on this fertile subject. Read on… […]

By |March 17th, 2008|General Blog Items|Comments Off on 3rd Wave Relationships: ACT with Couples

Implicit Attitudes and Other Applications of Relational Frame Theory

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is based on a theory of language and cognition called Relational Frame Theory (RFT). RFT is a much broader theory with much wider applications than therapy. For now, ACT is the most commonly recognized application of RFT, but other developments from RFT are coming, for example new educational tasks have been created that are being used to train students. Other researchers are looking at RFT preparations for training such basic skills as perspective-taking, a basic component of empathy. […]

By |March 16th, 2008|General Blog Items|Comments Off on Implicit Attitudes and Other Applications of Relational Frame Theory

Contacting Self as Context

Self as context is the concept that we are not the content of our experience -- we are not our thoughts, our feelings, our experienced sensations, the things we see, or the images that pass through our heads. Through exercises and metaphors, we can contact a transcendant sense of self that is more like the [...]

By |March 16th, 2008|General Blog Items|1,218 Comments

ACT Interview with Kenneth Cole

Dr. Kenneth Cole, Director of Training in Psychology at the VA in Long Beach, gives a nice interview on ACT as part of a podcast. He provides an overview of where ACT has come from in terms of its history. He also differentiates it in some ways from more traditional CBT. He also refers to [...]

By |March 16th, 2008|General Blog Items|4 Comments

13 ACT-Related Rules of Sucess for Grad Students (And Everyone…)

A lot of what Steven Hayes says about achieving success as a graduate student in “Thirteen Rules of Success: A message for Students” (1998) rang true for me, as I bet it will for others.  Take a look! […]

By |March 2nd, 2008|General Blog Items|1 Comment

Making Mindfulness Accessible – Lessons from the ACT Hexagon Model

There’s no doubt that mindfulness meditation is good for you. Dozens of studies show it, centuries of Buddhism show it, and experience shows it. The puzzle is – we don’t know how to get people to do it. Saying “it’s good for you” isn’t enough. In studies where researchers and therapists try to teach meditation, only a small minority of people ever develop a regular mindfulness practice. It just doesn’t stick. It’s wonderful that some people sit on a meditation cushion 30 minutes a day–every day, day in and day out–but the reality is most people won’t do that. We need a way to bring the benefits of mindfulness to the rest of us. I think that the ACT hexagon model provides a piece of the puzzle. […]

By |February 24th, 2008|General Blog Items|Comments Off on Making Mindfulness Accessible – Lessons from the ACT Hexagon Model

An intriguing New York Times article inspires a look at ACT treatments for chronic pain

“Arms at Rest” by Siri Hustvedt is an article that appeared in a recent New York Times issue.  It’s a poignant and inspiring account of a person’s journey of acceptance of her chronic lifelong migraines. The author’s comments about the way in which our culture has confused accepting adversity in one’s life with being ‘passive’ or a ‘pessimist’ strongly brought to mind the nature of acceptance as it is understood and practiced in ACT. It also sent me on a hunt to discover what resources are out there on ACT for chronic pain… […]

By |February 10th, 2008|General Blog Items|Comments Off on An intriguing New York Times article inspires a look at ACT treatments for chronic pain