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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by pseudoname on February 21, 2006, at 10:49:43
Two weeks ago TIME Magazine had a really long article on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and its creator, Steven C Hayes. I've been following "ACT" for a couple years, and I've been wondering when it would finally break into the news.
ACT's fundamental difference from most therapies is that it emphasizes NOT struggling against emotional pain, traumatic memories, anxiety, depressive feelings, irrational thoughts, and even hallucinations. Welcome it all, the theory is, and work on improving other, more external, aspects your life. It uses mindfulness techniques to help you accept the bad stuff, and it emphasizes finding your own, unique personal values to guide your life choices (i.e., not the therapist's values).
In my opinion, the author got ACT pretty accurately, including his repeated description of Hayes as "arrogant".
The article includes quotes from people like Hayes's friend Marsha Linehan, whose DBT overlaps in ways with ACT. And there's some condescending reactions from CBT guru Aaron Beck — who somehow doesn't get labeled "arrogant" by the TIME writer.
I have a lot of reservations about Hayes's theorizing and attitudes and those of the ACT community, which is growing, but I think self-acceptance (which is essentially what this is about) is overlooked and under-used in conventional therapy.
The article is free online at the moment: "What's the best form of psychotherapy? How can you overcome sadness? Controversial psychologist Steven Hayes has an answer: embrace the pain"
•"Happiness Isn't Normal" by John Cloud. TIME Magazine, Feb 13, 2006; 167(7), pgs 58-67: http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1156613,00.html
Posted by sleepygirl on February 21, 2006, at 19:45:01
In reply to Acceptance and Commitment in TIME, posted by pseudoname on February 21, 2006, at 10:49:43
Yeah, Beck did seem kind of arrogant judging by how he was quoted.
I'm inclined to think that these theories don't differ too much, in that each encourages one to take a step back from their thoughts.
I think where they might differ is where the power is placed. You recognize what you think, then you either decide to change the thought or simply accept it.If I had to decide what I was going to think, I'd be adding a whole extra step that just might make me a little obsessive. I don't like the idea of pulling my own strings. Maybe this thought relates in some way to the title of his book, "Get Out of Your Mind and Into your Life".
I guess Hayes is saying that when you can observe the thought it perhaps loses some of it's power...
I used to be so afraid of my own sadness, anger, whatever, etc..... until I just let myself feel it. My therapist likes to use the term "paper dragons" :-) I like that phrase because it doesn't really diminish how scary those "dragons" can be, but it also shows how they lose power to threaten you so muchInteresting that Hayes suffered from panic disorder which often seems to generate it's own panic about the possibility of more panic, etc. until you're agoraphobic perhaps and/or really unable to function.
I'm not sure why "acceptance" has such a spiritual connotation....this stuff gets hairy ;-)
Not sure where this "spirituality" evolved from, or maybe the question is how is Beck really different from Hayes (as a person)?
Posted by pseudoname on February 22, 2006, at 22:16:53
In reply to Re: Acceptance and Commitment in TIME » pseudoname, posted by sleepygirl on February 21, 2006, at 19:45:01
> or maybe the question is how is Beck really different from Hayes (as a person)?
That's interesting. I think they're both extremely ambitious, focused individuals.
I forgot to put in a link to Hayes's new ACT self-help book — which as of last week had passed Harry Potter in the Amazon sales rank! It's "Get Out of Your Mind and into Your Life" (2005).
Also Hayes's web site: http://contextualpsychology.com, which has an incomplete list of available ACT therapists.
Posted by pseudoname on February 25, 2006, at 15:06:41
In reply to Acceptance and Commitment in TIME, posted by pseudoname on February 21, 2006, at 10:49:43
It's spreading. There's now an interview with Steve Hayes about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy at Salon Magazine, although the Time Magazine piece was better. (You have to be a Salon member or sit through an ad to read the whole thing.) http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/02/25/happiness/index.html
There's a Salon discussion forum on the article, too. People can be mean! (Dr Bob is not alone in having fierce critics...) ;-) Hayes and his friends also reply: http://letters.salon.com/mwt/feature/2006/02/25/happiness/view/index1.html?show=all&order=asc
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Getting over happiness • SALON MAGAZINE • Feb 25, 2006
By Rebecca Traister
“Psychology has an improbable new rock star in Steven Hayes, a 57-year-old University of Nevada professor whose newest book, "Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life", coauthored with Spencer Smith, earned him a splashy profile in the Feb. 13 edition of Time magazine. The arresting headline of the Time story was "Happiness Isn't Normal" — and while that's not a sentence Hayes actually penned, it has quickly become the catchphrase associated with his controversial school of "acceptance and commitment therapy." ACT, as it's known, is an approach to mental and behavioral health that flies in the face of traditional cognitive therapy and is being referred to as "third-wave" psychology (following second-wave cognitive therapy and first-wave behavior therapy).” ....
Posted by ClearSkies on February 28, 2006, at 13:12:28
In reply to Salon on Hayes, ACT, posted by pseudoname on February 25, 2006, at 15:06:41
Thanks for posting this, really interesting reading.
ClearSkies
Posted by pseudoname on February 28, 2006, at 16:43:58
In reply to Re: Salon on Hayes, ACT » pseudoname, posted by ClearSkies on February 28, 2006, at 13:12:28
> really interesting reading
I really appreciate you saying so. I was a little surprised that there's been so little response to it here on a psychotherapy board. Just you and sleepygirl, a week apart.
It might be because on first pass ACT can sound like a cold, Dr Laura-style, suck-it-up approach. Not very appealing.
But ACT people say that our bad feelings are legitimate and important and we should not ignore them or "just put up with" them. If we Mindfully® invite them in, we get a lot more control over our lives...
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