Brooks Witter, MA, LPC, Senior Therapist at Living Well Transitions, talked about an innovative behavioral therapy that he practices called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) on L.A. Talk Radio with Lon Woodbury from Woodbury Reports.
Living Well Transitions
Living Well Transitions is a treatment plan in Boulder, Colorado for young men and women 18 years of age or older. This independent living program is designed to aid young adults avoid high-risk, out-of-control behavior and focus instead on developing a healthy and well-balanced life.
Before joining Living Well Transitions in 2004, Brooks was a mentor in a residential transition program for young adults. He has also served as a Board of Trustees Member at Naropa University and Secretary and Board Member for the Colorado Chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.
Brooks graduated from Naropa University with a Master's Degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy and has discovered that ACT helps him put into therapeutic practice the Buddhist discipline he learned called "mindfulness."
What is ACT?
Brooks explained how ACT emerged from the understanding that a lot of human suffering is a result of mental rigidity. This suffering is created by life experiences that a person labels as harmful. Mental rigidity originates from fusion with reasoning, evaluation of past experiences, avoiding similar experiences in the present, and providing explanations for this withdrawal. However, mental flexibility consists of accepting past reactions, staying present, choosing a new direction based on values, and taking important action.
Core Principles of ACT
The procedure to assist clients move from psychological rigidity to mental adaptability consisted in assisting them change through six principles: (1) cognitive diffusion, (2) approval, (3) contact with the present, (4) self-observation, (5) value recognition, and (6) executing useful action.
Contrast with Other Behavioral Psychologies
Although ACT is a behavioral science, it does not share the reductionist approach most people have based on the operant conditioning paradigms of Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner that sees individuals in a mechanical way, as animated robots that can be guided by pulling numerous reward or punishment levers.
Instead, ACT takes the attitude that people ought to be invited to alter their conduct according to what they might like to do instead of what other people prefer them to do. Brooks mentioned that people would certainly be willing to alter their conduct if it integrated with their own values and led them to the realization of their own greater good.
While Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) focuses on changing individual conduct by changing their thoughts, and while Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) concentrates on internally arguing with destructive notions and negative feelings as they occur, ACT focuses on observing the mind with no interest in acting upon detrimental ideas or relating to adverse feelings.
Living Well Transitions
Living Well Transitions is a treatment plan in Boulder, Colorado for young men and women 18 years of age or older. This independent living program is designed to aid young adults avoid high-risk, out-of-control behavior and focus instead on developing a healthy and well-balanced life.
Before joining Living Well Transitions in 2004, Brooks was a mentor in a residential transition program for young adults. He has also served as a Board of Trustees Member at Naropa University and Secretary and Board Member for the Colorado Chapter of the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.
Brooks graduated from Naropa University with a Master's Degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy and has discovered that ACT helps him put into therapeutic practice the Buddhist discipline he learned called "mindfulness."
What is ACT?
Brooks explained how ACT emerged from the understanding that a lot of human suffering is a result of mental rigidity. This suffering is created by life experiences that a person labels as harmful. Mental rigidity originates from fusion with reasoning, evaluation of past experiences, avoiding similar experiences in the present, and providing explanations for this withdrawal. However, mental flexibility consists of accepting past reactions, staying present, choosing a new direction based on values, and taking important action.
Core Principles of ACT
The procedure to assist clients move from psychological rigidity to mental adaptability consisted in assisting them change through six principles: (1) cognitive diffusion, (2) approval, (3) contact with the present, (4) self-observation, (5) value recognition, and (6) executing useful action.
Contrast with Other Behavioral Psychologies
Although ACT is a behavioral science, it does not share the reductionist approach most people have based on the operant conditioning paradigms of Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner that sees individuals in a mechanical way, as animated robots that can be guided by pulling numerous reward or punishment levers.
Instead, ACT takes the attitude that people ought to be invited to alter their conduct according to what they might like to do instead of what other people prefer them to do. Brooks mentioned that people would certainly be willing to alter their conduct if it integrated with their own values and led them to the realization of their own greater good.
While Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) focuses on changing individual conduct by changing their thoughts, and while Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) concentrates on internally arguing with destructive notions and negative feelings as they occur, ACT focuses on observing the mind with no interest in acting upon detrimental ideas or relating to adverse feelings.
About the Author:
Lon Woodbury, the founder of www.strugglingteens.com has a replay of the entire interview on L.A. Talk Radio.
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