Harness ACT to live a healthier life
Do you want to change your relationship with painful thoughts and feelings that are holding you back from making changes to improve your life? In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy For Dummies, you’ll discover how to identify negative and unhealthy modes of thinking and apply Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles throughout your day-to-day life, creating a healthier, richer and more meaningful existence with yourself and others.
Closely connected to Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), ACT is an evidence-based, NICE-approved therapy that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies mixed in with commitment and behaviour-changing strategies to help people increase their psychological flexibility in both their personal and professional lives. With the help of this straightforward and authoritative guide, you’ll find out how to target unpleasant feelings and not act upon them–without sending yourself spiraling down the rabbit hole. The objective is not happiness; rather, it is to be present with what life brings you and to move toward valued behaviour.
* Shows you how to banish unhelpful thoughts
* Guides you to making room for painful feelings
* Teaches you how to engage fully with your here-and-now experience
* Helps you cope with anxiety, depression, stress, OCD and psychosis
Whether you’re looking to practice self care at home or are thinking about seeing an ACT therapist, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy For Dummies makes it easier to live a healthier and more productive life in spite of–and alongside–unpleasantness.
Table of Content
Foreword xiii
Introduction 1
Part I: Getting Started with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy 5
Chapter 1: Introducing ACT 7
Chapter 2: Understanding that a Little Unhappiness Is Normal 17
Chapter 3: Developing Psychological Flexibility 29
Chapter 4: Living a Life with Meaning 45
Chapter 5: Moving Forward with Committed Action 57
Chapter 6: Overcoming Barriers to Living a Meaningful Life 67
Chapter 7: Being Present through Mindfulness 81
Chapter 8: Understanding Your ‘Selves’ 93
Part II: ACT Principles and Perspectives 107
Chapter 9: Counting the Cost of Avoiding Yourself 109
Chapter 10: Linking the Human Mind and Consciousness 119
Chapter 11: Tracing the Origins of ACT and Relational Frame Theory 129
Part III: ACT for Everyday Life 145
Chapter 12: Overcoming Work-Related Stress 147
Chapter 13: Looking at Love and Relationships through an ACT Lens 159
Chapter 14: Dealing with Problem Anger 173
Chapter 15: Helping You Live with Chronic Pain 187
Part IV: Mental Health Issues from an ACT Perspective 197
Chapter 16: Addressing Anxiety with ACT 199
Chapter 17: Beating Depression with Acceptance and Committed Action 211
Chapter 18: Dealing with Addiction 225
Chapter 19: Recovering from Psychosis 237
Part V: The Part of Tens 247
Chapter 20: Ten Brief Exercises to Help You Live More Mindfully 249
Chapter 21: Ten Tips for Value-Based Living 257
Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Overcome Fusion and Experiential Avoidance 265
Appendix: Further Sources 273
Index 277
About the author
Freddy Jackson Brown is a clinical psychologist and has worked in the NHS for over 20 years. Duncan Gillard is a Senior Educational Psychologist and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy practitioner. He provides psychological services to children, young people, families and school-based professionals.
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