strange loops - CBT vs ACT ?

[Guest guest]

i used to try and do some of the CBT exxercises in the book " feeling

good " - i forget the authors name

but i found long term that CBT didnt work very well for me coz when i

wasnt super stressed out i stopped using it, only to find myself

getting super stressed out again but out of practice with the thing

that was supposed to help me. so i never really climbed out of my

hole (oops i guess thats the wrong metaphor in ACT)

but one thing im wondering abo0ut - here it is -

ACT talks about " strnage loops " - meaning when your thoughts dont

accurately mirror reality. i have that a LOT, like i often get hung

up on thinking how sucky life is or i am, naturally with more details

than im giving here.

in the CBT exericse i did this might be called " black and whtie

thinking " or " overgeneralizing " or something loike that. so the

exericse would be to write down all your whacko thoughts that were

tormenting you and them examine them to see if they really made

sense. the goal was to feel less anxious or depressed or wahtever,

which of course isnt what ACT is about.

but would exercises like this still be helpful in ACT because they

help yuou catch yoru own strange loops, if you dont have a therpasit

to work with ? woould they help you get more in touch with your

environemnt and the learning you could be getting from whats

acstually happening? you woudlnt have to argue with having the whacko

thoughts, yuou coudl still have them, but you would get a feel for

when your mind is feeding you a bunch of XXXX if you know what I mean

what do people think?