Download PDF ACT Dade Simple : An Easy-to-Read Primer on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy : A Quick-Start Guide to ACT Basics and Beyond by Russ Harris

Sinopsis

Few people come to ACT and dive in head first. You, like most, may start off by dipping a toe in the water. Next, you put a whole foot in. Then a knee. Then an entire leg. Now you find yourself in this odd position, with one leg in the water and one leg out. And generally you stay there for quite a while, half in, half out, not quite sure if ACT is for you. Finally, one day, you take the plunge. And when you do so, you discover the water is warm, welcoming, and invigorating; you feel liberated, buoyant, and resourceful; and you want to spend a lot more time in it. Once this happens, there’s generally no going back to your old way of working. (So if this hasn’t already happened to you, I hope it will by the end of this book.)

One reason for this initial uncertainty about ACT is that it challenges conventional wisdom and overturns the ground rules of most Western psychology. For example, most models of therapy are extremely focused on symptom reduction. Their assumption is that clients need to reduce their symptoms before they can lead a better life. ACT takes a radically different stance. ACT assumes that (a) quality of life is primarily dependent upon mindful, values-guided action, and (b) this is possible regardless of how many symptoms you have—provided that you respond to your symptoms

with mindfulness.

To put it another way, mindful, values-congruent living is the desired outcome in ACT, not symptom reduction. So although ACT typically reduces symptoms, this is never the goal. (By the way, as “values-congruent living” is a bit of a mouthful, for the most of the book I’ll shorten it to “valued living.” Sorry, I know it’s not great English.) Thus in ACT, when we teach a client mindfulness skills, the aim is not to reduce his symptoms but to fundamentally change his relationship with his symptoms so that they no longer hold him back from valued living. The fact that his symptoms reduce is considered a “bonus” rather than the main point of therapy.

Content

1. INTRODUCTION
2. ACT in a Nutshel
3. Stuck, Not Broken
4. The House of ACT
5. Getting Experiential
6. Opening ACT
7. Creative What??!
8. Watch Your Thinking
9. Open Up
10. Be Here Now
11. Pure Awareness
12. Know What Matters
13. Do What It Takes
14. Getting Unstuck
15. I and Thou
16. The Therapist’s Journey
17. Case Conceptualization Made Simple

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