My Therapist gave me an article a few sessions ago about ACT: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and I read the thing and ended up actually kind of excited about having anxiety. Weird, I know! Before you judge, (too late?) let me share some of the key concepts that I loved about this approach and the article---my favorite one being that I'm NOT crazy! (at least not in terms of anxiety, other areas of my life are still up for questioning...)
**ACT does not attempt to reduce symptoms, but gets symptom reduction as a byproduct.
The main point of ACT is NOT to try to get rid of the symptoms of anxiety (because attempts at this actually cause more anxiety) but to accept the pain and learn how to handle it differently. That's not really anything new if you've read other approaches. Here's what does set it apart:
The Other Guys:
"Western psychology is founded on the assumption of "healthy normality": that by their nature, humans are psychologically healthy, and given a healthy environment, lifestyle, and social context...humans will naturally be happy and content. " The problem with this perspective is that any psychological suffering is then seen as abnormal--a disease, pathological and something to get rid of. Basically, it says that if you are lonely, sad, depressed, anxious, etc. there's something wrong with you and you should fix it. That you are somehow "weak" and should be able to take measures to correct it. With thinking like this, it's no wonder there's such a stigma on mental health issues.
What ACT says is quite the opposite. It "assumes that the psychological processes of a normal human mind are often destructive, and create psychological suffering for us all, sooner or later." In other words, it's NORMAL to NOT feel great ALL the time! You're not crazy! I mean, consider all the psychological suffering that aren't "clinical disorders" yet still cause lots of pain for people--loneliness, boredom, alienation, meaninglessness, low self-esteem, pain from bullying, sexism, domestic violence, divorce, etc. Everyone suffers and the intent of therapy should not be to stop it but to change your viewpoint towards it.
By accepting this and using mindfulness techniques, you can reduce the impact and influence of the unwanted thoughts and feelings in your life. Suffering is brought about from trying to avoid painful situations and control emotions. This only makes things worse. It's best to develop psychological flexibility thought the 6 core principles of ACT: defusion, acceptance, contact with the present moment, the observing self, values, and committed action. (these are all explained in detail in the article and worth checking out)
Maybe the best part of the article was this little tidbit about how therapists are in the same boat as their clients. It makes sense that if we disspell (apparently not a word that I can spell) the myth of "healthy normality" and agree that all humans suffer mentally, therapists should tell clients something like this:
In other words, the therapist ain't got his s*** together any more or less than the rest of us, he's just better at spotting your s*** and helping you accept that we're all in this s*** together!
(*****For the record, I actually love my therapist and think she does a wonderful job*****)
Now, feel free to read the whole darn thing if you choose---it's fun, really! : )
Embracing Your Demons: An Overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy--Russell Harris
You can also find this article and other helpful resources here:
http://attackgirldani.blogspot.com/2012/09/helpful-resources-on-anxietypanic.html
Don't forget to check it periodically as I continually update it.
**ACT does not attempt to reduce symptoms, but gets symptom reduction as a byproduct.
The main point of ACT is NOT to try to get rid of the symptoms of anxiety (because attempts at this actually cause more anxiety) but to accept the pain and learn how to handle it differently. That's not really anything new if you've read other approaches. Here's what does set it apart:
The Other Guys:
"Western psychology is founded on the assumption of "healthy normality": that by their nature, humans are psychologically healthy, and given a healthy environment, lifestyle, and social context...humans will naturally be happy and content. " The problem with this perspective is that any psychological suffering is then seen as abnormal--a disease, pathological and something to get rid of. Basically, it says that if you are lonely, sad, depressed, anxious, etc. there's something wrong with you and you should fix it. That you are somehow "weak" and should be able to take measures to correct it. With thinking like this, it's no wonder there's such a stigma on mental health issues.
What ACT says is quite the opposite. It "assumes that the psychological processes of a normal human mind are often destructive, and create psychological suffering for us all, sooner or later." In other words, it's NORMAL to NOT feel great ALL the time! You're not crazy! I mean, consider all the psychological suffering that aren't "clinical disorders" yet still cause lots of pain for people--loneliness, boredom, alienation, meaninglessness, low self-esteem, pain from bullying, sexism, domestic violence, divorce, etc. Everyone suffers and the intent of therapy should not be to stop it but to change your viewpoint towards it.
By accepting this and using mindfulness techniques, you can reduce the impact and influence of the unwanted thoughts and feelings in your life. Suffering is brought about from trying to avoid painful situations and control emotions. This only makes things worse. It's best to develop psychological flexibility thought the 6 core principles of ACT: defusion, acceptance, contact with the present moment, the observing self, values, and committed action. (these are all explained in detail in the article and worth checking out)
Maybe the best part of the article was this little tidbit about how therapists are in the same boat as their clients. It makes sense that if we disspell (apparently not a word that I can spell) the myth of "healthy normality" and agree that all humans suffer mentally, therapists should tell clients something like this:
"I don't want you to think I've got my life completely in order. It's more as if you're climbing your mountain over there and I'm climbing my mountain over here. It's not as if I've reached the top and I'm having a rest. It's just that from where I am on my mountain, I can see obstacles on your mountain that you can't see. So I can point those out to you, and maybe show you some alternative routes around them."
(*****For the record, I actually love my therapist and think she does a wonderful job*****)
Now, feel free to read the whole darn thing if you choose---it's fun, really! : )
Embracing Your Demons: An Overview of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy--Russell Harris
You can also find this article and other helpful resources here:
http://attackgirldani.blogspot.com/2012/09/helpful-resources-on-anxietypanic.html
Don't forget to check it periodically as I continually update it.
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