WEEK ONE Flashcards
OVERVIEW OF ACT AND THE 'CHOICE POINT'
What are the six core processes of ACT
- Creative Hopelessness
- Defusion
- Acceptance
- Contacting the present moment
- Self-as-context
- Values
- Committed action
what is FUNCTIONAL CONTEXTUALISM
A philosophy of science in which all behaviour occurs within context, which includes everything which influences the behaviour in question:
- physiological
- physical environment
- interpersonal development and learning history
- cognitive
- social and cultural
- genetic and epigenetic
- emotional
WHO CREATED ACT, WHERE, WHEN AND WHO WITH
PROFESSOR STEPHEN C HAYES
UNIVERSITY OF RENO, NEVADA
“Making Sense of Spirituality” - 1984
- looking at spirituality through the lens of behavioural analysis, the branch of psychology from which ACT evolved.
First called “COMPREHENSIVE DISTANCING” - became ACT in 90’s
KIRK STROSAHL, KELLY WILSON
WHAT CONSTITUTES BEHAVIOUR? WHAT ARE THE TWO MAIN TYPES OF BEHAVIOUR
BEHAVIOUR IS ANY ACTION
OVERT/ PUBLIC - potentially observable by others
- movement
- speech
PRIVATE - cannot be observed
- thinking
- feeling/emoting
- remembering
WHAT IS AN ANTECEDENT?
A CAUSE/ SOURCE/ TRIGGER FOR A BEHAVIOUR
- situation
- thoughts
- feelings
- biological state
WHAT IS A CONSEQUENCE? WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONSEQUENCE IN THIS CONTEXT?
ANYTHING THAT RESULTS FROM A BEHAVIOUR
- Reinforcing consequences - anything that increases or sustains a behaviour
- punishing consequences - anything that reduces or eliminates a behaviour
WHAT IS ‘WORKABILILTY’ IN THIS CONTEXT
- No behaviour is good/ bad
- “is it working to help me build a rich, full and meaningful life, be the person I want to be and do the things I want to do?”
HOW DO WE HELP CLIENTS TO MODIFY A BEHAVIOUR
To modify a behaviour, we need to understand the function of the behaviour through clarifying the antecedents and consequences of the behaviour. We target the antecedents and consequences for modification.
WHAT IS ACT
ACCEPTANCE AND COMMITMENT THERAPY
ACCEPT WHAT IS OUT OF YOUR PERSONAL CONTROL AND COMMIT TO ACTION THAT IMPROVES YOUR LIFE - NOT PASSIVE ACCEPTANCE THERAPY
WHAT IS THE AIM OF ACT
- IN LAYMAN’S TERMS
- to live a rich, full and meaningful life while accepting the pain that inevitable goes with it
- IN TECHNICAL TERMS
- TO INCREASE PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY
- to be here now
- make room for thoughts and feelings that arise
- do what matters
- act effectively in line with your values
- TO INCREASE PSYCHOLOGICAL FLEXIBILITY
IS ACT AN EMPIRICALLY SUPPORTED TREATMENT? WHAT IS IT INDICATED FOR?
>250 Randomized Controlled Trials published in peer-reviewed journals that show effectiveness of ACT for many disorders
- 2nd highest number of listings of all therapy models on the APA 12 EST list
- depression - pending (1998 modest)
- mixed anxiety - pending (1998 modest)
- chronic pain - pending (1998 strong)
- psychosis - modest
- OCD - modest
WHAT TYPES OF THERAPIES COME UNDER THE CBT UMBRELLA?
- Beck’s Cognitive Therapy, Behavioural Activation, Exposure with Response Prevention, Mindfulness-Integrated Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy, Functional Analytic Psychotherapy, Motivational Interviewing, Metacognitive Therapy, Schema Therapy, Relational Emotive Behavioural Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, Barlow’s Unified Protocol, ACT, Dialectical Behavioural Therapy Integrative Couples Therapy, Others
WHAT ARE THE COMMON AREAS BETWEEN ACT AND TRADITIONAL CBT BASED ON BECK’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE THERAPY?
- EMPHASIS ON EMPIRICAL SUPPORT
- IMPORTANCE OF DIRECTLY TARGETING COGNITION TO INFLUENCE BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE
- BORROW FROM BEHAVIOUR ANALYTIC PRINCIPALS
- ENCOURAGES AWARENESS AND MINDFULNESS OF THOUGHTS
WHAT IS A MAJOR DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACT AND TRADITIONAL CBT?
IN ACT YOU ARE NOT ENCOURAGED TO DISPUTE, CHALLENGE OR DEVALUE YOUR THOUGHTS - THAT IS ACT INCONSISTENT.
PRACTICAL UNDERPINNING OF ACT
- Process Driven
- Adaptable
- modify to suit therapist and clients
- Almost infinite number of tools, strategies, interventions
- Can be used for individuals
- 15 - 60 mins
- Groups
- 60 - 90 mins
- Formal/ Informal meditation/ mindfulness
- interventions can be short or long
- Brief Therapy - 4-12 1 hour sessions
- Ultra Brief Therapy - 2-3 sessions of 15 - 20 minutes
- Long Term
THEORETICAL UNDERPINNINGS OF ACT
’ IF ACT IS LIKE DRIVING YOUR CAR, RELATIONAL FRAME THEORY IS LIKE THE ENGINEERING PRINCIPLES OF YOUR CAR ENGINE”
THE ACT TRIANGLE GOES LIKE THIS
ACT
RELATIONAL FRAME THEORY
- behavioural theory of language and cognition, offshoot of
BEHAVIOUR ANALYSIS
- all CBT models borrow from Behaviour Analytic Principles
FUNCTIONAL CONTEXTUALISM
NAME SOME ASPECTS OF OTHER THERAPEUTIC MODELS THAT CAN BE INTERCHANGED WITH ACT PROCESSES
CBT - cognitive distancing - DEFUSION
BEHAVIOURAL ANALYSIS - behavioural change - COMMITTED ACTION
NARRATIVE - DEFUSION
EMOTIONAL FREEDOM THERAPY - primary and secondary emotions - ACCEPTANCE
POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY - virtues - VALUES
TRANSPERSONAL - transcendent self - SELF AS CONTEXT
PSYCHOEDUCATION IN ACT
- Quite a lot in early sessions
- aim to do it through metaphor or experiential exercises
- pushing away paper
- hands as thoughts
- radio doom and gloom
- aim to do it through metaphor or experiential exercises
- can be used to facilitate acceptance of difficult thoughts and feelings
- helpful to go through the evolution of the human mind
INEVITABILITY OF PAIN
WITH CARING COMES PAIN
- any meaningful aspect of life brings potential pain
- health
- career
- family
- the longer you live, the more likely you are to experience pain
- fear, sadness, anxiety, guilt, disappointment, rejection, failure, grief, illness, death, aging, injury
- REALITY GAP- the bigger the gap between want/ got, the bigger the pain
WHAT IS THE FIRST HAPPINESS MYTH
(remember that clinging to them can keep you stuck)
- Happiness is the natural state for human beings
- eg if all of the requirements for Maslow’s Heirarchy are met, we must feel happy
- REALITY
- Life is an everchanging flow of emotions
- we don’t say that the natural state of the weather is blue sky and sunny, we expect it to change with the seasons
- Life is an everchanging flow of emotions
- when we have an important loss - sadness
- challenging situations with unpredictable outcomes - anxiety
WHAT IS THE SECOND HAPPINESS MYTH?
- HAPPINESS MEANS FEELING GOOD
- most definitions are “a state of pleasure / contentment
- by this definition, there is no such thing as lasting happiness
-
“living a rich and meaningful life in which we feel the full range of human emotions” is much more realistic
- the things that make life deeply fulfilling also give rise to plenty of painful emotions
- most definitions are “a state of pleasure / contentment
WHAT IS THE THIRD HAPPINESS MYTH?
- IF YOU’RE ARE NOT HAPPY, YOU ARE DEFECTIVE
- more and more normal human emotions are being pathologized and overmedicated
- the human mind evolved in such a way that it naturally creates psychological suffering