I’m using this post to link to a video by my good cyber-friend, Richard Nongard. He is, as I believe Americans say, good people. Silly Americans. Anyway, Richard has an incredible amount of experience in the world of hypnosis and completely vindicated my interest in ACT (when I first came…
JoAnne Dahl and Tobias Lundgren discuss the use of ACT for the treatment of chronic pain. They start off with a fascinating observation: A radical and provocative conclusion drawn by the authors of a Swedish government evaluation (van Tulder, et al., 2000) of all established medical treatments offered today was…
A friend of mine recently gave-up smoking and is currently going on two weeks without a puff. He has received advice to employ some distraction techniques to help him deal with the ‘cravings’. I have two issues with this. Firstly, after two weeks, it is not strictly speaking cravings that…
Just came across a paper from Steven C. Hayes, Jacqueline Pistorello and Michael E. Levin on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a Unified Model of Behavior Change. Here’s the abstract: The present article summarizes the assumptions, model, techniques, evidence, and diversity/social justice commitments of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT…
Never let it be said that we are biased! Of course, ACT is not perfect. Neither is it without its detractors. This research article in The International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy (2011, Vol. 7, No. 1, 55–67) evaluates a recent critique of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Written by…
The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris is the book that first introduced me to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. And I had something of a love/hate relationship with it. It’s interesting to me that if you look at the reviews over at amazon or Good Reads, my response seems to be…
Here is a useful analysis, comparing ACT and Behavioral Activation as a treatment for Depression: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Behavioral Activation for the Treatment of Depression: Description and Comparison Abstract The field of clinical behavior analysis is growing rapidly and has the potential to affect and transform mainstream cognitive…
Here is a great – and FREE! – resources from the University of Exeter Wellbeing Service. ACT FOR LIFE is an audio programme based on the concepts of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, which is one of the recent mindfulness based therapies shown to be effective with a diverse range of…
Here is a really simple and useful post: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy when we feel we can’t! By resisting and struggling against unwanted situations or feelings, we often create more inner suffering. Acceptance is not about “giving up”, but, since we can’t change the unpleasant experiences, we can learn to…