ACT is about:
- Waking Up -- that is, being "present in the 'here and now,' noticing the psychological traps and 'stories' that our minds tell us, which often hold us back in life."
- Loosening Up -- "actively and purposely responding to our thoughts, emotions and physical sensations in a more open and accepting way, without judgement and defence."
- Stepping Up -- "identifying and clarifying what really brings meaning and fulfillment into your life."
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What unwanted experiences do you try to eradicate? Emotions, thoughts, and physical sensations you'd like to get rid of. Strategies you use to accomplish this -- avoidance, taking your mind of it, etc.
Quicksand analogy: friend caught in quicksand; the only way to get free is to stop struggling. "Perhaps the key to experiencing unwanted emotions as manageable rather than overwhelming is, ironically, to allow ourselves to feel those emotions."
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Wake Up!
We need to turn off the autopilot. Rumination is thinking about past, worry is thinking about the future.
"In order to 'wake up' we need to switch off the autopilot mode by using our awareness to deliberately focus on the present moment, with a non-judgemental, curious and flexible attitude. A skill that can help us to do this is mindfulness."
Thinking self vs. observer self. "YOU are bigger and more than your thoughts and feelings. Your observer self is the space from which you can stand and observe the stories that your thinking self is producing." Exercises 3.11, 3.12.
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Loosen Up!
Path analogy: your cycling along a path and reach a fork in the road; one path has no major obstacles, and you know where it goes; the other path is "overgrown, thick with brambles and full of potholes." Which path would you take if everything important to you lie along the second path?
Feeding your tiger analogy.
Acceptance = the willingness to be open "to our whole experience, including our unwanted thoughts, emotions and physical sensations." Ongoing awareness of our thoughts and feelings requires a non-judgemental focus on the present moment." "If, in any given moment or context, our experience tells us that trying to control, change or avoid our thoughts and feelings takes us away from the kind of life that we want to be living, then it follows that accepting and loosening up around these unwanted thoughts and feelings, just as they are, might be a more useful strategy."
The Transistor Radio. Imagine a radio with two dials. One dial measures the strength of your unwanted thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. The other dial measures your willingness "to have and accept these experiences while you do things that move you towards living the kind of life that really matters to you."
Willingness "is not about tolerating thoughts and feelings, increasing our willpower or like hanging on for dear life while riding a white-knuckle ride! Instead, willingness involves taking an accepting and curious stance towards our unwanted experiences [using defusion techniques], allowing these thoughts and feelings to come and go in the interests of continuing vigorously to pursue our values in life."
Exercise 4.1
"Sometimes difficult thoughts do reflect a difficult reality; no amount of thought challenging is going to change this."
Exercises 4.5, 4.6, 4.7, 4,8
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Step Up!
"Instead of being driven through life by our thoughts or emotions, we can instead choose what we want to do." "I'm having these really difficult thoughts, sensations and emotions, AND I'm willing to take them with me so that I can move towards the things that matter most to me in life."
Exercises 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 5.7, 5.8.
The observer self can help you to realize your values (p. 203).
Make SMART goals.
We're more likely to stick to our goals if we tell others about them.
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