Locating the problem, and the path through it, to somewhere new You know the couple. They can each recite their side of the argument fluently, they’ve done the communication homework, they can even describe what triggered last week’s blow-up with real insight. And still, this week, the same cycle. Different couples therapy approaches ask different questions about what is keeping […]
Guest blog from Ditte Hoffmann Frydendal One of the defining features of health anxiety is not that people feel more sensations than everyone else, it is that they interpret ordinary bodily sensations as signs of serious illness. A skipped heartbeat becomes evidence of heart disease. A headache signals a brain tumour. Forgetting a name must […]
You’re sat with a client. They’re telling you about scan results, or a medication change, or the latest thing physio said, and then, almost as an aside, they say it: “I’m just not the person I used to be”. It slips out quietly, but it’s doing a lot of work. If your instinct is to offer reassurance, you’re about to miss the deepest part of the session. That sentence […]
Guest blog from Robyn Walser After nearly three decades of practicing and teaching ACT, one of the most important lessons I have learned is that the heart of ACT is not found in its techniques, metaphors, or protocols. Rather, it is found in a way of being with another human being. Many clinicians first encounter […]
What are physical health problems? When we discuss physical health problems we generally refer to chronic health conditions, long-term illnesses, or health issues that significantly impact one’s lifestyle. While these may be categorised as physical health, the overlap with mental health is well-documented. For an individual who has been used to leading an active and […]
Enhance your skills with acceptance and commitment therapy! When learning acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), one of the most common questions everyone asks us is, “Where do I start?”. ACT is a rich, dynamic, and flexible model, and with a vast number of books, models and experts it can certainly feel overwhelming at first. However, […]
Guest blog from Duncan Gillard and Freddy Jackson Brown Adolescence can be a complex and often confusing time. Finding ways to talk about and clarify what you’re thinking and feeling, and what you want your life to be about, can be hard, as you try to navigate the social world and the world of education […]
Guest blog from Eric Morris & Linda Nicholson If your supervision sessions are mostly conversations about reviewing cases, discussing links between theory and practice, and offering advice, you may be missing one of the most effective approaches available to ACT supervisors: experiential learning. Experiential methods move supervision beyond a “tell” model to a “show and […]
When you sit across from clients day-to-day, you begin to notice the same handful of things coming up, session after session, client after client. Quite often it’s not the big dramatic decisions that people regret, but the quieter ones instead, whether that be the disagreement that never resolved, the opportunities that were missed or the […]
Mindfulness has become a buzzword in recent years, but it’s not immune to its fair share of stereotypes and misconceptions. These stereotypes can cloud the understanding of what mindfulness truly is and hinder clients from fully experiencing its benefits. We wanted to take the opportunity to debunk some of the common myths about mindfulness, reminding […]
Good ACT practitioners know their clients. They notice what resonates, what falls flat, and when a metaphor has landed somewhere useful versus somewhere puzzling. What separates skilled practitioners from newer ones isn’t usually the size of their toolkit, it’s knowing how to use what’s already in it. The metaphors we reach for most often in […]
You’re sitting with a client who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s six weeks ago and you introduce the word acceptance. Watch what happens. The shoulders drop a little. Sometimes you’ll hear it said back to you almost word for word: “So you want me to just give up?” It’s not a difficult client, and it’s not […]
Do you really need your inner critic to stay motivated? Expert tip from Russell Kolts Part of helping clients work with shame and self-criticism involves getting curious about the functions the client ascribes to their self-critic. Clients can sometimes have real resistance to addressing self-criticism: “I need my self-critic to keep myself on track and […]
A process of presence, values, and growth A new way of seeing supervision Supervision is a familiar space for most clinicians; a place for guidance, reflection, and accountability. Yet when we step into supervision through the lens of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), the atmosphere feels subtly but profoundly different. Rather than focusing only on […]
Guest blog from Matthew Pugh and Tobyn Bell A common misconception is that chairwork can’t be delivered online, or that it is much less effective in this format. This concern is understandable. Chairwork is associated with movement and physical action: moving chairs around the room, switching between seats, standing back to observe different parts of […]
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