Demystifying ACT webinar 4/11/15

An  Intro  to  the  Intro  to  ACT  

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is

…built on empirically based principles
…aimed to increase psychological flexibility
…using a mindfulness-based approach
…with behavior change strategies

…built  on  empirically  based  principles   …built  on  empirically  based  principles  

Severe substance abuse Social phobia Test Anxiety

Depression Smoking Mathematics Anxiety
Obsessive-compulsive disorder Chronic pain Public Speaking Anxiety in College Students
Panic disorder Medical problems Enhancing Psychological Health of Students Abroad
Generalized anxiety disorder Psychosis Eating & Weight Concerns
Post-traumatic stress disorder Workplace stress Smoking
Trichotillomania and more... Substance Abuse
 

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Demystifying ACT webinar 4/11/15

…aimed  at  increasing  psychological  flexibility     …using  a  mindfulness-­‐based  approach  

Mindfulness:
Psychological flexibility is:
…is much easier learned by experience
…contacting the present moment fully …involves:
…as a conscious, historical human being, paying attention in a particular way;
…and based on what the situation affords on purpose,
…changing or persisting in behavior in the present moment,
and nonjudgmentally
…in the service of chosen values -Jon Kabat-Zinn

…with  behavior  change  strategies  

Behavior change strategies include:

Applied Behavior Analysis strategies Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is
Ø  Contingency management built on empirically based principles
Ø  Level systems
aimed to increase psychological flexibility
Traditional Behavior Therapy strategies
Ø  Flooding using a mindfulness-based approach with
Ø  Exposure & ritual prevention behavior change strategies.
Ø  Social skills training
Ø  Behavior activation

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Demystifying ACT webinar 4/11/15

Contact with the

Present Moment

Acceptance Values
“ACT is a… therapy approach based on… acceptance, defusion,
establishment of a transcendent sense of self, contact with the Essential
present moment, values, and building larger and larger patterns of Components
committed action linked to those values” (Hayes, 2005, p. 13).   of ACT

Defusion Committed
Action

Self as
Context

Actively contacting psychological experiences

directly, fully, and without needless defense
while behaving effectively
Hayes, Wilson, Gifford, Follette, & Strosahl, 1996, p. 1163
 

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Demystifying ACT webinar 4/11/15

Self-as-Context

The sense-of-self that is

a consistent perspective
from which to observe
Looking at thoughts, rather than from thoughts and accept all changing
Language can have a strong influence on our behavior, experiences
but it doesn’t have to…

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Demystifying ACT webinar 4/11/15

Intimate relationships
Values Family relations
Social relations
…are chosen life directions.
Employment
…give life meaning. Education and training
Recreation
Spirituality
There is a distinction between
a value and a goal. Citizenship
Health/physical well-being

Committed Action  Contact with the

Present Moment

Acceptance Values

Habit Reversal
Social Skills Training
Behavioral Activation
Exposure/ Ritual Prevention
Defusion Committed Role Play
Action Flooding
Systematic Desensitization
Applied Relaxation
Overt behavior in the Self as
Exposure Therapy
Guided Mastery

service of values Context Stress Inoculation Training

Parent Management Training
Behavioral Homework

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Demystifying ACT webinar 4/11/15

Contact with the

Present Moment
Contact  with  the  
Present  Moment  
Acceptance Values

Essential
Components
Mindfulness practice is based on the of ACT
premise that only in the experience of the
current event can one accurately perceive
what is really happening and behave in a Defusion Committed
values-based committed manner. Action

Self as
Context

This then is the Contact with the

Present Moment
overall
ACT model

Acceptance Values

 These six core processes are interconnected

with mutual and facilitative relationships
among them…
Defusion Committed
Action

Self as
Context

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Demystifying ACT webinar 4/11/15

ACT Question Contact with the (6) at this time, in

Present Moment this situation?
(2) are you willing to
have that stuff, fully
and without defense
Acceptance Values
(5) of your chosen
values
If the answer is Psychological
“yes,” that is Flexibility
what builds... (4) and DO what takes
you in the direction

Defusion Committed
(3) as it is, and not as Action
what it says it is,

Self as (1) Given a distinction between

Context you and the stuff you are
struggling with and trying to
change

•  www.contextualscience.org  
•  www.ACTinPracBce.com  
•  djmoran.podbean.com  
•  dj@pickslyde.com  
•  @drdjmoran  

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