#60-ACT  Made Simple    

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) was developed in the 1980s by psychologist Steven C. Hayes. His ideas emerged from his own personal struggle with panic attacks. Eventually, he recognized that it was not productive to avoid or run from his own discomfort. He vowed that he would learn to accept himself and directly address problematic feelings and thoughts. The ACT method seeks to develop and expand psychological flexibility. Such flexibility encompasses emotional openness and the ability to adapt thoughts and behaviors in a way that aligns with the person’s goals and values. It is an action-oriented approach that is based on behavioral and cognitive therapies. Clients learn to stop avoiding inner emotions and thoughts. He learns to accept his inner struggles that have kept him stuck. As part of the process he commits to making necessary behavioral changes that override these difficulties. The idea is to move forward in his life regardless of what is happening around him or how he feels and thinks about it. The intent here is to go in a positive direction by practicing taking concrete steps in behavior that reflect one’s true goals and values. The podcast will explore the ACT approach and assumptions behind it. As we will see, the ACT process inherently reinforces the assumption that therapy and change is difficult. The question is whether the process of change needs to be as difficult as ACT makes it out to be?