Using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to Better Tolerate Uncertainty with Dr Natalie Stott

Today, Wendy is joined by clinical psychologist Dr Natalie Stott. Her main clients are doctors, nurses, physios and those who care for others. She is EMDR trained but mainly uses Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help her clients deal with work related stress, burnout, perfectionism and a range of other issues.   Dr Stott explains how ACT works. Including providing an in-depth example of how it can be used to enable people to better tolerate uncertainty. She also shares a simple exercise that anyone can start using immediately.     KEY TAKEAWAYS   ·      ACT helps you to become psychologically flexible. Be more accepting of your thoughts and be less prone to autopilot reactions. ·      Humans have a compulsion to seek out things that are permanent and safe. ·      Life is full of uncertainty, so trying to avoid it is fruitless. ·      Accepting that uncertainty is normal and equipping yourself to handle it better is liberating. ·      Overthinking, distraction or procrastination are common reactions when we face uncertainty. ·      Some things in life can´t be changed, but how you engage can. ·      Many of us have lost touch with our values, with who we are.     BEST MOMENTS “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is about learning a different way of relating to your thoughts and feelings.” “It's those behaviours that we do on autopilot … that get us stuck.” “Values are behaviours.” “ You can't be more family, you can't be more friend, but what you can do is be more authentic.” “Mind your buts.”   EPISODE RESOURCES Values episode - https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/act-values/id1747917644?i=1000657095418 The Choice Point - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV15x8LvwAQ     ABOUT THE GUEST Dr Natalie Stott is a clinical psychologist who runs her own private practice. She specialises in helping high achievers cope with burnout, anxiety, perfectionism, and imposter experience.  Natalie previously worked with NHS staff as part of a psychology team, where she was involved in delivering team interventions and conducting workshops and a large portion of her private work involves support doctors therapeutically or to overcome anxieties related to their exams. In addition to her professional work, she is a mother of two and hosts a podcast called mastering therapy for fellow psychologists to improve their therapy skills.     VALUABLE RESOURCES www.wendycastelino.com https://www.instagram.com/wendycastelino https://www.youtube.com/@wendycastelino798 https://twitter.com/WendyCastelino     ABOUT THE HOST Wendy Castelino has been working as a psychotherapist for over thirty-five years. As an accredited CBT and EMDR practitioner, she is committed to upholding the rigorous standards required for these accreditations and helping thousands of people reach their full potential.   Wendy currently runs a private practice where her focus is on CBT. Therapy is constantly evolving into developing new techniques, so she studies hard to integrate them into her therapy, to provide a rich and effective experience.   Wendy is aware that working in one-to-one therapy limits the number of people she can see. She has, therefore, created a range of online resources. These resources are designed to be easy to follow and provide clear, step-by-step instructions. This can help the individual to master skills and gain confidence, therefore optimising the therapy sessions. They are also suitable to be used on their own.   Further details are available at: WendyCastelino.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.