Dear Gregg I always thought of ACT as a great dialectical reaction against the infantilization memeplex dominating contemporary culture. A refreshing Nietzschean-Phallic response to the sentimental overemotionality in previous psychotherapy trends. Which means I'm even more grateful for you also pointing out its shortcomings. How has ACT been doing clinically?` Has it proven easy to teach and then apply? Or is the opposite the case? Best intentions Alexander Den tis 23 apr. 2019 kl 19:03 skrev Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx < [log in to unmask]>: > Peter, > > Thanks for this note. I agree with you that ACT is a sophisticated form > of therapy. I appreciate its use of metaphor, its focus on mindful > awareness and acceptance and emphasis on engagement and values based > living. As I noted, it overlaps much with my CALM MO approach and I use > many of its techniques and principles in my work. > > > > My primary critiques of it include the following: > > > > Because it is philosophically and conceptually grounded in Steve Hayes’ > post-Skinnerian relational frame theory, it has a limited (and in many > ways, unnecessarily complicated) theoretical structure. > > > > It is unnecessarily defined against traditional Beck/Ellis cognitive > therapy (i.e., sometimes it makes sense to observe and move through > thoughts like ACT recommends and other times to engage and work to > re-author them). The UTUA metatheoretical viewpoint makes clear why Hayes’ > view is limited and defined against traditional cognitive therapy. > > > > It is weak in its attention to relationship process variables. It does not > include much in terms of attachment theory; Influence Matrix variable > analysis; False/Defensive Self v. True/Authentic self frames. > > > > It is not strong on the relationship between self-consious and > subconscious processes, nor psychodynamic defenses (except for > suppression/repression which ACT couches as experiential avoidance). > > > > It overshoots in its framing of all justification variables (i.e., > attributions, describing, narrating, telling the story of one’s life) as > being essentially rationalizations—and it privileges actions as a function > of its Skinnerian lineage. > > > > It is weak in its broader philosophical analysis (e.g., big picture views > of science, meaning of life and foundational values, socio-political > theory, etc). > > > > Best, > > G > > > > > > > > > > > > *From:* tree of knowledge system discussion < > [log in to unmask]> *On Behalf Of *Peter Limberg > *Sent:* Tuesday, April 23, 2019 8:27 AM > *To:* [log in to unmask] > *Subject:* Re: ACT CALMly > > > > I discovered ACT a few years ago and at the time I thought it was one of > the better psychotherapeutic modalities out there. I like the idea of Dirty > Pain v Clean Pain ... the latter is running away from the reality of the > pain. > > > > On Tue, Apr 23, 2019 at 8:11 AM Henriques, Gregg - henriqgx < > [log in to unmask]> wrote: > > Hi List, > > Below is a link to an essay on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy that > folks might find to be of value: > > > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__aeon.co_essays_how-2Dto-2Dlive-2Da-2Dvalues-2Ddriven-2Dlife-2Din-2Dthe-2Dface-2Dof-2Ddark-2Demotions&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=GU7R3O7W0-2-bzaQsUv5wxM3rBWUdJCdnTuda6fuQUg&s=gU-Xx78nzBlT6Y5ds-F6aOB7y1bTSJmr4g9rSc9wi2E&e= > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__aeon.co_essays_how-2Dto-2Dlive-2Da-2Dvalues-2Ddriven-2Dlife-2Din-2Dthe-2Dface-2Dof-2Ddark-2Demotions&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=PyRQoKYAcGA049y4d9HHH0F2BoUYnYccB25NhBu8Mqo&s=9bXpYLkGtBWfRDlVoS2x36SA_wz6kI-1tPL0kIMhg-I&e=> > > > > ACT (said as the word) is one of the major “third wave” forms of > cognitive and behavior therapies. It emphasizes mindful awareness of one’s > emotions and how to remain committed toward one’s goals and valued states > of being. CALM MO, the integrated approach to psychological mindfulness > that is the 8th branch of the UTUA framework overlaps significantly with > the basic ACT principles. > > > > On another note, the TOK miniconference was a success and many interesting > ideas were exchanged. I will be sharing some updates soon. > > > Best, > Gregg > > > > ___________________________________________ > > Gregg Henriques, Ph.D. > Professor > Department of Graduate Psychology > 216 Johnston Hall > MSC 7401 > James Madison University > Harrisonburg, VA 22807 > (540) 568-7857 (phone) > (540) 568-4747 (fax) > > > *Be that which enhances dignity and well-being with integrity.* > > Check out my Theory of Knowledge blog at Psychology Today at: > > https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.psychologytoday.com_blog_theory-2Dknowledge&d=DwIFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=GU7R3O7W0-2-bzaQsUv5wxM3rBWUdJCdnTuda6fuQUg&s=bF9LysbW_eQrl3HS_5YuCoFR73F53oXHyPkG9oDS9tU&e= > <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.psychologytoday.com_blog_theory-2Dknowledge&d=DwMFaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=PyRQoKYAcGA049y4d9HHH0F2BoUYnYccB25NhBu8Mqo&s=NzJpnGsTwYLv3liOxDK1WxkuNq4rAT-kJZmSYEmQO30&e=> > > > > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the > following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the > following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > ############################ > > To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: > mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the > following link: > http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1 > ############################ To unsubscribe from the TOK-SOCIETY-L list: write to: mailto:[log in to unmask] or click the following link: http://listserv.jmu.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=TOK-SOCIETY-L&A=1