Search results for: Cognitive Defusion in a Nutshell
Cognitive Defusion in a Nutshell
“People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.” – George Bernard Shaw Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) encourages people to “defuse” themselves from maladaptive patterns of thinking through a process called cognitive defusion. The idea is that we all have a tendency to over-identify with our thoughts, amplifying…
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Acceptance in a Nutshell
“The most terrifying thing is to accept oneself completely.” – Carl Jung Mindfulness-based therapies such as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) infuse the concept of acceptance throughout treatment. The idea behind acceptance is the notion of surrendering and opening yourself up to all aspects of your internal and external experience in their entirety. This means…
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“Leaves on a Stream” – Cognitive Defusion Exercise
“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) provides us with the tools to practice cognitive defusion, which is the willingness to let go of the attachment and over-identification with thoughts that cause suffering. When fusion to thoughts becomes problematic, those thoughts become “true” and “real” in…
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Identify Cognitive Fusion
“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” – Swedish Proverb Cognitive fusion takes hold when we become so attached to patterns of thinking or specific thoughts that they get in the way of leading a full, rich, and meaningful life. In order words, we are fused to our thoughts when they cause significant…
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Simple Mindfulness Meditation Exercise
“Meditation is the dissolution of thoughts in Eternal awareness or Pure consciousness without objectification, knowing without thinking, merging finitude in infinity.” – Voltaire The concept of taking time out of your day to engage in a mindfulness meditation exercise may seem like a luxury that your hectic schedule simply will not allow. Perhaps the very…
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Gratitude Begets Happiness
“Wake at dawn with a winged heart and give thanks for another day of loving.” – Kahlil Gibran Sometimes it is easier to notice what’s going “wrong” in your life, rather than what’s going “right.” Events in life sometimes come in waves of ups and downs, hopefully with a great deal of calmness and stability in…
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Mindfulness Exercises for People Who Are “Too Busy” to Meditate
“There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting.” – Buddha Life means constant and inevitable change. Sometimes that change takes the form of dust accumulating bit by bit on a bookshelf and at other times change manifests itself as a major life transition. There…
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5 Steps of Effective & Mindful Problem Solving
“One thing is sure. We have to do something. We have to do the best we know how at the moment… If it doesn’t turn out right, we can modify it as we go along.” – Franklin D.Roosevelt Problems in life can take on a variety of forms, but many of them share common characteristics that…
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Improve the Moment with Emotion Regulation Strategies
“‘Well,’ said Pooh, ‘what I like best,’ and then he had to stop and think. Because although Eating Honey was a very good thing to do, there was a moment just before you began to eat it which was better than when you were, but he didn’t know what it was called.” – A.A. Milne…
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Tolerate Distress with Self-Soothing Thoughts
“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” – William James Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) teaches distress tolerance skills as a way to mindfully tolerate and move through uncomfortable thoughts, emotions, and sensations. Internal distress can feel overwhelming and unbearable at times, but reacting to distress by fighting or…
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