ACTing on Life

Embrace your demons and follow your heart (Russ Harris, 2006)
In this handout: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. What does ACT stand for? Feeding the hungry tiger metaphor Mini Article: Getting unhooked from our difficult thoughts Living a valued life Being in the moment Recommended resources Upcoming workshops

1. What does ACT stand for?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (said as one word, ACT) is an exciting scientifically based approach to human suffering that aims to help people to live less in their heads and more in their lives! Acceptance and Commitment Therapy gets its name from one of its core messages: to accept what is out of your personal control, while committing to do whatever is in your personal control to improve your quality of life. If you want more information about what ACT is you can also read our handout, What is ACT? which is also available from this website. See also: http://www.contextualpsychology.org/martha_becks_story_in_the_february_2006_issue_of_o _magazine or http://www.contextualpsychology.org/martha_beck_column_that_mentions_act_2001 or http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/COS/2008_TUCCC/Files/Dr_Russ_Harris_-_A_Nontechnical_Overview_of_ACT.pdf The latter article is more detailed.

2. Feeding the Hungry Tiger Metaphor

Imagine you wake up one morning and just outside your front door you find an adorable tiger kitten mewing. Of course you bring the cuddly little thing inside to keep it as a pet. After playing with him for a while, you notice he is still mewing, nonstop, and you realise that he must be hungry. You feed him a bit of bloody, red mince meat knowing thats what tigers like to eat. You do this every day, and every day your pet tiger grows a bit bigger. Over the course of two years, your tigers daily meals change from hamburger scraps to prime ribs, to entire sides of beef. Soon your little pet no longer mews when hungry. Instead, he growls ferociously at you whenever he thinks it is meal time. Your cute little pet has turned into an uncontrollable, savage beast that will tear you apart if he doesnt get what he wants. Your struggle with your painful thoughts & feelings can be compared to this imaginary pet tiger. Every time you empower your pain by feeding it red meat of experiential avoidance (i.e. anything you do that helps you avoid upsetting thoughts and feelings), you help your pain-tiger grow a little bit larger and a little bit stronger. Feeding it in this manner seems like the prudent thing to do. The pain-tiger growls ferociously telling you to feed it whatever it wants or it will eat you. Yet, every time you feed it, you help the pain to become stronger, more intimidating, and more controlling of your life. (Taken from: Get out of your mind and into your life, Steven C. Hayes)

2008. Counselling Service University of New South Wales. Written by Louise Shepherd with acknowledgments to Steve Hayes and Russ Harris. No part is to be reproduced without the written consent of the Director of the Counselling Service. The information in this handout is intended as a guide and is not definitive.

3. Mini Article: Getting Unhooked from our difficult thoughts

When we have an unwanted thought, we may try to avoid it or push it away. We may also try to get rid of unwanted feelings or bodily sensations. This is sometimes called experiential avoidance by ACT therapists. When we get hooked by thoughts it is as though they push us around or bully us, like a critical coach who stands on the sidelines and gives very negative feedback (e.g. that was stupid, I bet other students are doing much better than I am). Acceptance refers to experiencing the unwanted thoughts without evaluating them or trying to change them. That is, paying attention to the experience of having the thoughts, rather than focusing on their meaning (i.e. there must be something wrong with me). This doesnt mean that you have to like or want the thought. It is more to do with acknowledging that you are having the thought and that pushing it away may not have been very helpful. Has it worked yet? Or if it works sometimes does it seem to work in the longer term for you? For example, have you noticed that when you try not to think about something (or someone) that you end up thinking more about it? Distraction may help for a few minutes or hours but does it make the thoughts and feelings go away in the long term? We can build up our willingness to have unwanted thoughts by practicing a technique called mindfulness or mindfulness meditation. This is about paying attention to our thoughts in a non-judgmental manner. If you want to learn more about this you can see the websites or books recommended in this newsletter. The first part is to let go of struggling to control unwanted thoughts and feelings, to focus on the here and now (anxiety thoughts normally focus on the future; depression thoughts on the past), and acting in a way that is consistent with your values. That may sound a bit strange but in a sense rather than trying to get rid of anxious thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations, you can shift your focus to what really matters to you in your life, and then in particular areas of your life, and set goals that fit with these. For example, if a young man is very keen to find a girlfriend but feels highly anxious about asking a woman on a date he may still decide he is willing to be anxious as this is something that is really important to him. If he waits for the anxiety to stop of its own accord before he believes he is ready to ask the woman out he may be waiting a very long time. Learning to be more accepting (i.e. letting it be without having to change or get rid of it) of your internal dialogue, feelings and physical sensations can be challenging and you will need some time to practice so that you can change old habits. There are some great books you can read to help with this and you might also want to look into attending a course to learn mindfulness meditation. If the thoughts are particularly distressing and powerful it might also be really helpful to see a trained professional such as a psychologist who can help teach you these skills.

4 Quick Steps To Emotional Acceptance (Dr. Russell Harris) 1. OBSERVE. Bring awareness to the feelings in your body. 2. BREATHE. Take a few deep breaths. Breathe into and around them. 3. EXPAND. Make room for these feelings. Create some space for them. 4. ALLOW. Allow them to be there. Make peace with them Some people find it helpful to silently say to themselves, I dont like this feeling, but I have room for it, or Its unpleasant, but I can accept it.

2008. Counselling Service University of New South Wales. Written by Louise Shepherd with acknowledgments to Steve Hayes and Russ Harris. No part is to be reproduced without the written consent of the Director of the Counselling Service. The information in this handout is intended as a guide and is not definitive.

5. Living a valued life

I recently came across a great exercise which you might like to have a go at! It is called The Bulls eye (created by Tobias Lundgren in Sweden) and you can find a copy of it here at the bottom of the page: http://www.actmindfully.com.au/articles_&_papers I believe that unless we clarify what truly matters to us in life it is easy to just go with the flow or end up in a rut, sometimes far away from where we had hoped and dreamed we would be. The Bulls Eye exercise will help you clarify what is important to you in your life.

6. Being in the moment

Sitting still, just watching your thoughts without judgement is something that most of us find really hard to do. Our minds are often caught up in past mistakes or future opportunities or possible disasters! Being more mindful in the present is a skill to learn. Here are some ideas about how to practice this: Totally focus on your breathing for 10 breaths. There is no special way to breathe just try to pay very close attention to how it feels. Eat slowly and be completely aware of all the senses sight, smell, touch, taste, & sounds. Just to keep your attention only on this one activity. Practice a more formal mindfulness meditation exercise see http://www.freebuddhistaudio.com/meditation/guided. Buy a meditation CD for only $10 at the Counselling Service.

7. Recommended Resources
My current favourite is The Happiness Trap by Russ Harris. It is available in most good bookstores or online at www.actmindfully.com.au. Other great books include Get out of your mind and into your life by Steven C. Hayes, The Mindfulness and Acceptance Workbook for anxiety by J. Forsyth & G. Eifert as well as The worry trap by Chad Lejeune. Another great book is Full Catastrophe Living by Jon Kabat-Zinn. These may soon be available at our library and at UNSW and Randwick libraries. If you wish to learn more about ACT you might like to go to the official website. Most of the information is designed for health professionals but there is some great stuff for the general public:

See article http://www.contextualpsychology.org/martha_beck_column_that_mentions_act_2001 Official website: www.contextualpsychology.org

8. Upcoming workshops
The Counselling Service runs a variety of workshops throughout the year, including workshops that teach students ACT skills. Visit our website (www.counselling.unsw.edu.au) for details.

2008. Counselling Service University of New South Wales. Written by Louise Shepherd with acknowledgments to Steve Hayes and Russ Harris. No part is to be reproduced without the written consent of the Director of the Counselling Service. The information in this handout is intended as a guide and is not definitive.