Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Dummies

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.

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.

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

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