Guest guest Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 I have recently been considering purchasing the new ACT book, and quite frankly find the ideas I've read about it both most attractive/potentially liberating and quite scary. For some time I have suffered from anxiety - primarily social and in more recent years (pure) obsessive in nature. For a long time I have used CBT/REBT tools as well as more general self-help motivational approaches. But after writing ad infinitum in my journal and having the same conversations with myself about various cognitive distortions I did begin to wonder whether I was missing something. This led me to explore other approaches including mindfulness meditation and constructive living (morita therapy) which are not premised on controlling unpleasant thoughts/feelings - ACT seems to take a similar approach. I guess intellectually I've got my head around these concepts, but I do find the whole idea of a lack of control (ie acknowledging I'm not in control of certain thoughts/feelings) hard to accept and I've debated with myself whether it is helpful to take such an approach. When I have attempted to embrace it has seemingly led to an increase in my anxiety levels. Hence I have been in two minds about whether to purchase the book. I guess I have had some limited success in controlling some symptoms of social anxiety (fear of blushing has been a long standing phobia) and I have strong desire to control such symptoms as I work as a lawyer and want to present 'professionally'. On the other hand, my more obsessive anxiety has been largely unresponsive to my attempts to control it and it is that which has really taught me or started to teach me the value of accepting and letting be. On the whole I feel like I do very much live in my head and spend too much time in an ongoing struggle with symptoms I would rather not be there. The idea of 'getting out of my head and into my life' is therefore appealing. However the concept of relinquishing what vestiges of control I have (sort of) convinced myself that I do have is somewhat terrifying! I was hoping that Dr might have some suggestions or comments in relation to my situation. regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 The best ally here is your own pain. Your mind is asking for reassurance (from me supposedly but really TO it). But that is the organ that got you in trouble to begin with! It says "we did that and it made it worse." Hmmm. But didn't you do what it said in the first place and didn't THAT make it worse? And have you really done what is in this book? Who are you going to believe, you mind or your experience? It is fine to look at the data. That is a responsible form of reassurance. On the ACBS website there is a file with all of the ACT data in it at the bottom of the page http://www.contextualpsychology.org/en/books_tapes But after that you have to DO the work and see. ACT is about getting out of your mind, not convincing it. So this is a kind of trick: inside literal, evalautive language explain why I need to do something outside of literal, evaluative langauge Hmmm So my questions are just these: 1. does this seem familiar / old / predictable? 2. if so, how has it worked? 3. if it hasn't worked, is enough enough? No guarantees. Data yes. Guarantees no. Guarantees are for washing machines, not human lives I struggled with anxiety for many years. Been there. I feel for you. If reassurance would really help, man, I'd do it. As for my best attempt to help ... well, that is the book - S C. Foundation Professor Department of Psychology /298 University of Nevada Reno, NV 89557-0062 Office: x2005 (don’t leave messages there … I mostly work from home, esp. now that I have a new baby. Email me instead.) Email: hayes@... Context Press (you can use this for messages as well): Fax: Home: Home fax: Use the Context Press line. It will automatically detect incoming faxes. Cell (please use sparingly): Relevant websites: www.contextualpsychology.org (this one will soon subsume the ACT and RFT websites below; if you want my vita, or publications from me, or PowerPoint slides, etc etc please carefully check out this site first. Go to my blog and to the publications list etc. Given the flow of emails, I need all the help I can get. Thanks in advance.) www.acceptanceandcommitmenttherapy.com www.relationalframetheory.com www.contextpress.com www.unr.edu/psych then click on faculty pages From: ACT_for_the_Public [mailto:ACT_for_the_Public ] On Behalf Of dfnicholson71Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 5:32 PMTo: ACT_for_the_Public Subject: Would ACT be helpful? I have recently been considering purchasing the new ACT book, and quite frankly find the ideas I've read about it both most attractive/potentially liberating and quite scary. For some time I have suffered from anxiety - primarily social and in more recent years (pure) obsessive in nature. For a long time I have used CBT/REBT tools as well as more general self-help motivational approaches. But after writing ad infinitum in my journal and having the same conversations with myself about various cognitive distortions I did begin to wonder whether I was missing something. This led me to explore other approaches including mindfulness meditation and constructive living (morita therapy) which are not premised on controlling unpleasant thoughts/feelings - ACT seems to take a similar approach. I guess intellectually I've got my head around these concepts, but I do find the whole idea of a lack of control (ie acknowledging I'm not in control of certain thoughts/feelings) hard to accept and I've debated with myself whether it is helpful to take such an approach. When I have attempted to embrace it has seemingly led to an increase in my anxiety levels. Hence I have been in two minds about whether to purchase the book. I guess I have had some limited success in controlling some symptoms of social anxiety (fear of blushing has been a long standing phobia) and I have strong desire to control such symptoms as I work as a lawyer and want to present 'professionally'. On the other hand, my more obsessive anxiety has been largely unresponsive to my attempts to control it and it is that which has really taught me or started to teach me the value of accepting and letting be. On the whole I feel like I do very much live in my head and spend too much time in an ongoing struggle with symptoms I would rather not be there. The idea of 'getting out of my head and into my life' is therefore appealing. However the concept of relinquishing what vestiges of control I have (sort of) convinced myself that I do have is somewhat terrifying! I was hoping that Dr might have some suggestions or comments in relation to my situation.regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 15, 2006 Report Share Posted January 15, 2006 Thanks Steve, In the meantime my mind had come up with a number of other objections, but I don't think its necessary to pursue them. I found your reply helpful and also referred to an interview of yours with New Harbinger on the link you sent. I guess the way my mind has worked till now has been to find ways to eliminate/manage/reduce/deal with unwanted anxiety symptoms (physical/mental). I've therefore been comfortable with approaches that suggest this is a worthwhile and possible endeavour. I've certainly been able to cope with life relatively well and do things like public speaking etc that I've been afraid of. But I found that anxiety also branched out into other ways that were less easy to control. I also don't feel like I've really moved forward all that much in this whole undertaking over the years despite my best efforts ... I still feel stuck in my head and engaged in a frustrating ongoing war of attrition against unwanted anxious thoughts & feelings. So - in answer to your question - no it hasn't worked, I am still living in my head more than my life oftentimes and it does feel like enough is enough. My next step is clear - read the book and put it into practice, which I've decided to do regardless of my mind's most informed and panicked objections! So I'll save any more questions until after I've done or at least started that! regards > > The best ally here is your own pain. > > Your mind is asking for reassurance (from me supposedly > but really TO it). But that is the organ that got you in trouble > to begin with! It says " we did that and it made it worse. " > Hmmm. But didn't you do what it said in the first place and > didn't THAT make it worse? And have you really done what is > in this book? > > Who are you going to believe, you mind or your experience? > > It is fine to look at the data. That is a responsible form of > reassurance. On the ACBS website there is a file with all of the ACT data > in it at the bottom of the page > > http://www.contextualpsychology.org/en/books_tapes > > But after that you have to DO the work and see. > ACT is about getting out of your mind, not convincing it. > So this is a kind of trick: inside literal, evalautive language > explain why I need to do something outside of literal, evaluative langauge > > Hmmm > > So my questions are just these: > > 1. does this seem familiar / old / predictable? > 2. if so, how has it worked? > 3. if it hasn't worked, is enough enough? > > No guarantees. Data yes. Guarantees no. > Guarantees are for washing machines, not human lives > > I struggled with anxiety for many years. Been there. > I feel for you. If reassurance would really help, man, I'd do it. > As for my best attempt to help ... well, that is the book > > - S > > > C. > > Foundation Professor > > Department of Psychology /298 > > University of Nevada > > Reno, NV 89557-0062 > > > > Office: x2005 (don't leave messages there . I mostly work > from home, > > esp. now that I have a new baby. Email me instead.) > > Email: hayes@u... > > Context Press (you can use this for messages as well): (775) 746- 2013 > > Fax: > > Home: > > Home fax: Use the Context Press line. It will automatically detect incoming > faxes. > > Cell (please use sparingly): > > Relevant websites: > > www.contextualpsychology.org <http://www.contextualpsychology.org/> (this > one will soon subsume the ACT and RFT websites below; if you want my vita, > > or publications from me, or PowerPoint slides, etc etc please > carefully check out this site first. Go to my > > blog and to the publications list etc. Given the flow of emails, > I need all the help I can get. Thanks in advance.) > > www.acceptanceandcommitmenttherapy.com > <outbind://212/www.acceptanceandcommitmenttherapy.com> > > www.relationalframetheory.com <outbind://212/www.relationalframetheory.com> > > www.contextpress.com <outbind://212/www.contextpress.com> > > www.unr.edu/psych <outbind://212/www.unr.edu/psych> then click on faculty > pages > > > > > > _____ > > From: ACT_for_the_Public > [mailto:ACT_for_the_Public ] On Behalf Of dfnicholson71 > Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 5:32 PM > To: ACT_for_the_Public > Subject: Would ACT be helpful? > > > I have recently been considering purchasing the new ACT book, and > quite frankly find the ideas I've read about it both most > attractive/potentially liberating and quite scary. For some time I > have suffered from anxiety - primarily social and in more recent > years (pure) obsessive in nature. For a long time I have used > CBT/REBT tools as well as more general self-help motivational > approaches. But after writing ad infinitum in my journal and having > the same conversations with myself about various cognitive > distortions I did begin to wonder whether I was missing something. > This led me to explore other approaches including mindfulness > meditation and constructive living (morita therapy) which are not > premised on controlling unpleasant thoughts/feelings - ACT seems to > take a similar approach. I guess intellectually I've got my head > around these concepts, but I do find the whole idea of a lack of > control (ie acknowledging I'm not in control of certain > thoughts/feelings) hard to accept and I've debated with myself > whether it is helpful to take such an approach. When I have > attempted to embrace it has seemingly led to an increase in my > anxiety levels. Hence I have been in two minds about whether to > purchase the book. > > I guess I have had some limited success in controlling some symptoms > of social anxiety (fear of blushing has been a long standing phobia) > and I have strong desire to control such symptoms as I work as a > lawyer and want to present 'professionally'. On the other hand, my > more obsessive anxiety has been largely unresponsive to my attempts > to control it and it is that which has really taught me or started > to teach me the value of accepting and letting be. > > On the whole I feel like I do very much live in my head and spend > too much time in an ongoing struggle with symptoms I would rather > not be there. The idea of 'getting out of my head and into my life' > is therefore appealing. However the concept of relinquishing what > vestiges of control I have (sort of) convinced myself that I do have > is somewhat terrifying! > > I was hoping that Dr might have some suggestions or comments > in relation to my situation. > > regards > > > > > > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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