ACT > One > Flashcards

One Flashcards

(47 cards)

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1
Q

The big challenges we all have to face in life.

Three parts

A

A. Life if difficult
B. A full human life comes with a full range of pleasant and painful emotions.
C. A normal human mind naturally amplifies psychological suffering.

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2
Q

How can ACT help?

Two main takeaways

A

Clarify Values

Teach psychological skills

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3
Q

Vitality

A

A sense of being fully alive & embracing the here and now regardless of how one feels in the moment.

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4
Q

The ACT Triflex

A
  • Be Present
  • Open Up
  • Do what matters
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5
Q

Components of Being Present

A

Self-as-context & contact with the present
moment

  • Early steps in unhooking skills often include grounding & centering, noticing, naming, & acknowledging the thoughts and feelings present
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6
Q

Components of Opening Up

A

Defusion & Acceptance

  • Later steps in unhooking often include active use of defusion, acceptance, & self-compassion skills.
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7
Q

Components of Doing what matters

A

Committed Action & Values

  • Connecting with values facilitates unhooking and vice versa.
  • Values then guide subsequent action
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8
Q

Unhooking Skills (i.e., all four ACT mindfulness processes)

A
  1. Defusion
  2. Acceptance
  3. Self-as-context
  4. Contact with the present moment
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9
Q

The two core processes of being hooked

A
  1. cognitive fusion
  2. experiential avoidance
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10
Q

Cognitive Fusion

Basic Meaning

A

Getting dominated by our cognitions

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11
Q

Experiential avoidance

basic meaning

A

the ongoing struggle to avoid or get rid of unwanted thoughts and feelings.

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12
Q

The word “mind” in ACT

A

an incredibly complex set of interactive cognitive processes
* a metaphor for human language

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13
Q

Cognitive Fusion

Deeper definition

A

when our cognitions dominate our overt or covert behavior in a self-defeating or problematic way

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14
Q

Cognition

Tricky Terminology

A

any and all categories of thinking as well as to aspects of feelings and emotions

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15
Q

The two main ways fusion shows up

A

1 Cognitions dominate our physical actions in problematic ways
* i.e., canceling plans in response to a thought around social avoidance (“Nobody likes me, so I’m not going.”)

2 Cognitions dominate our awareness in problematic ways
* getting “pulled into” or “lost in” cognitions that reduce awareness
* i.e., losing focus to rumination or worry such that one makes a lot of mistakes or forgets important tasks

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16
Q

Absorbtion

A

A response to cognitions that is not ineffective or self-defeating.
* Basically, fusion but in a good way.

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17
Q

A quick summary of fusion and defusion found on page 22

The two main purposes of defusion

A
  1. to engage fully in our experience
  2. to enable us to effective action

Recognizing a thought for what it is: a group of words or pictures inside our heads.

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18
Q

Workability

A

The key concept for which the ACT model rests upon.
* An examination of one’s behaviors in terms of working towards effectively solving a problem and moving towards one’s valued ends.
* Exploring whether one’s thoughts help and whether one could use the thoughts as a means to resolution.

See different questions we can ask on page 24

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19
Q

“Thinking does not make anything good or bad, but…”
* The ACT stance about problematic thoughts and feelings

Study These Flashcards
A

“…fusion with your thinking creates problems.”
* when we respond to thoughts and feelings rigidly and in inflexible ways (i.e., fusion and avoidance), problematic effects ensue.

20
Q

Six Broad Categories of Fusion

Why I started writing flashcards in the first place

Study These Flashcards
A

Fusion with…

  • the past
  • the future
  • self-concept
  • reasons
  • rules
  • judgments
21
Q

Six Broad Catagories of Fusion

Fusion with the past

Study These Flashcards
A

All types of past-oriented cognition
* rumination, regret, & dwelling on painful memories
* ➡️ failure, hurt, & loss, for example
* blame & resentment
* idealizing the past
* ➡️ My life was wonderful before X, Y, and Z happened.

22
Q

Six Broad Catagories of Fusion

Fusion with the future

Study These Flashcards
A

All types of future-oriented cognition
* worrying or catastrophizing
* predicting the worst, hopelessness
* anticipating failure, rejection, hurt, loss, etc.

23
Q

Six Broad Catagories of Fusion

Fusion with self-concept

Study These Flashcards
A

all types of self-descriptive and self-evaluative cognition
* negative self-judgment
* ➡️ I am bad/unlovable/worthless/dirty/damaged/nothing/broken
* positive self-judgment
* ➡️ I am always right and better than you.
* overidentifying with a label
* ➡️ I am borderline. I am depressive. I’m an alcoholic. I’m a runner.

24
Q

Six Broad Catagories of Fusion

Fusion with reasons

Study These Flashcards
A

“Reason Giving” for why we can’t change, won’t change, or should not have to consider changing.
I can’t do X because…
* I’m too Y
* Z might happen.
* It’s pointless.
* I am B.
* C says I shouldn’t (C = parents, religion, the law, etc.)

25
# Six Broad Catagories of Fusion Fusion with Rules: subscriptional
What we subscribe to about how I, others, or the world *should be*. Revealed by the words "should," "**have to**," "must," "ought," right," "wrong," "fair," or "unfair." * I mustn't make mistakes
26
Fusion with Rules: conditional
"can't until," "shouldn't until," "shouldn't unless," "mustn't because," "must do this in order to," "will not tolerate," or "refuse to allow." * She needs to change before I do. * I can't go to work while I feel this way.
27
Fusion with Judgments
Any type of positive or negative evaluation
28
Experiential Avoidance
A **desire** to avoid or get rid of unwanted *private experiences* and the **actions** one takes in trying to make that happen.
29
Private Experience
Any experience one may have *that no one else can know about* without one communicating it. * thoughts, feelings, emotions, sensations * memories & images * urges, desires, & impulses
30
The Brain as a Problem-Solving Machine
* A problem is an unwanted circumstance. * Solutions to problems consist of avoidance and getting rid of the problem. * In the physical world, this works well. * In the mind, not so much. * When our *private experience becomes the problem* the solution of ridding or avoidance creates additional problems!
31
Experiential Acceptance
A core component of most ACT protocols... **Getting the client in touch with the costs** and futility of experiential avoidance.
32
The Two Circumstances that underlie ACT's advocacy of Experiential Acceptance
1. When avoidance of thoughts and feelings is limited or impossible. 2. When avoidance of thoughts and feelings *is* possible, but the methods used make life worse in the long term. When experiential avoidance assists a person to live by their values, then it's cool.
33
The two forms of fusion that facilitate experiential avoidance ## Footnote The equation of EA
1. judgments 2. rules * The mind **judges** something as "bad" and **formulates a rule** to get rid of it.
34
Two different hooked modes
1. automatic 2. avoidance
35
Automatic Mode
In the state of fusion, when one automatically obeys one's thoughts and feelings and do whatever the cognitions tell them to do.
36
Avoidance Mode
**Taking** whatever **efforts** during a state of fusion **to avoid** or get rid of unwanted thoughts and feelings.
37
# Six Core Pathological Processes of Psychological Rigidity Fusion
When one's **thoughts** dominate one's **physical actions** and **awareness** to **problematic extents**. | Inverse of Defusion
38
# Six Core Pathological Processes of Psychological Rigidity Experiential Avoidance
The ongoing attempt to get rid of, avoid, or escape from unwanted private experiences such as thoughts, feelings, and memories * Short bursts of relief highly reinforces and increases the chances the behavior will occur again. | Inverse of Acceptance
39
# Six Core Pathological Processes of Psychological Rigidity Inflexible Attention
A wide range of deficits of full conscious contact with inner and outer worlds. * The 3D's: * ➡️Distractability, Disengagement & Disconnection | Inverse of Contact with the Present Moment
40
# Six Core Pathological Processes of Psychological Rigidity Remoteness from Values
* The loss, neglect, or forgetting of values to fusion and experiential avoidance. * Inability to contact values, preventing one from using them as effective guides for actions. * Vauge or unclear definitions of values. | Inverse of Values ## Footnote A contradiction to ACT's aim of bringing behavior under the influence of values rather than fusion or avoidance.
41
# Six Core Pathological Processes of Psychological Rigidity Unworkable Action
* Away moves. * **Patterns of behavior** that pull you away from mindful, values-based living. * **Impulsivity**, **reactivity**, or **automatic behavior** * **Fusion and EA guided behavior** rather than values guided behavior. * **Inaction** or **procrastination** towards something that requires effective action. | Inverse of Committed Action
42
# Six Core Pathological Processes of Psychological Rigidity Fusion with Self-Concept
**Affixing** to your **story** as genuinely **descriptive** about your **very essence** | Inverse of Self-As-Context
43
Flashback
**Extreme fusion** with a memory--to such an extent that it seems to be reality and happening right here and now.
44
# Inflexible Attention Distractability
Difficulty sustaining one's **attention** on a task or activity. Attention slips to irrelevant stimuli. Causes poor performance.
45
# Inflexible Attention **Disengagement** ## Footnote Disengage Disengaged Disengaging
The loss of conscious **interest** or involvement in an experience. * Boredom * disinterest * absentmindedness, or * going through the motions. ## Footnote * She **cut herself off** and totally ____'ed with the assessment * **Absentmindedness**: An inattentive mental state & forgetfulness from unawareness of one's surroundings or becoming lost in thought.
46
# Inflexible Attention Disconnection
* **One's inability to notice how one thinks or feels** and overall **lack of self-awareness**. * **Promotes emotional dysregulation**, impulsivity, reactiveness, and mindless behavior.
47
# Remoteness of Values Three potential conditions
* Motivated by **fusion** * ➡️ I have to do this bc it's all I'm capable of doing! * ➡️➡️ Fusion to self-concept, for example * Motivated by **Experiential Avoidance** * ➡️ Motivated to avoid feeling like a loser or escaping unpleasant feelings due to marital tension * Motivated by **Values** * ➡️ Motivated by caring, connection, and contribution.

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