Posts Tagged ‘experiential avoidance’
ACT on the Paradox of Depression
“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.” – Francis Bacon Depression can manifest itself in a variety of forms and impact people’s lives in a multitude of ways. It’s quite different from feeling sad every now and then, or even grief-stricken in the face of loss. For some people,…
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Confront the Agenda of Emotional Control
“Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under the more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not.” – William James When we experience emotional suffering, it is natural to want it to “stop.” There is often…
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Problem-Solve with Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
“I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.” – Mother Theresa Problems great and small can seem overwhelming when they are not mindfully examined and understood. You can take specific problem-solving actions that will result in problems becoming more manageable. When problems…
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What Stands Between You & the Life You Want?
“Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” – Henry David Thoreau Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) enlists people to identify their most cherished values, set goals in accordance with those values, and then begin to direct their behavior towards reaching those goals. One way of asking yourself a motivating question to…
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Experiential Avoidance: The Desire to Avoid Distress
“People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own soul.” – Carl Jung When we experience unpleasant thoughts, emotions, or sensations, there is often a natural tendency to want to avoid these uncomfortable experiences – sometimes, at all costs. This is called experiential avoidance. The irony is that experiential avoidance has…
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6 Core Processes of Psychological Inflexibility
“Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it.” – Lao Tzu Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) uses a variety of mindfulness and acceptance-based strategies, along with behavioral changes and commitment to cultivate psychological flexibility. What does it mean to say that one is “psychologically flexible?” In the context of ACT,…
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