Posted by pseudoname on June 8, 2006, at 10:51:42
In reply to Re: between ACT and a hard case (trig) » pseudoname, posted by fairywings on June 8, 2006, at 2:10:08
Hi, ’wings!
> It sounds like you're doing this on your own, but you have a therapist?
I see a pdoc for meds, but no other therapist. I hunted up an ACT therapist about 18 months ago, one who had gotten her PhD from the ACT developer, but we just didn't hit it off. It was like she was following a script and nothing I said ever put her off that script. I only went 3 times. (I've also had a few other therapists over the years.)
So, I'm doing the ACT stuff on my own. Lots of books & articles. Also I read the ACT forum for clients and used to read the one for therapists.
> I've heard of it a few times...it sounds a lot like CBT?
There are a lot of workbook exercises and assignments and so on, so that's a lot like CBT.
But the goal of the exercises is different. ACT doesn't try to change all those irrational, dysfunctional thoughts like "I can't do this" or "People hate me." ACT tries to teach you how to accept those thoughts and simply observe them and do what you want to even while you're having them. ACT doesn't care so much whether an emotionally troublesome thought is "true" or "false".
As Dinah noted, it has more similarity with Dialectical Behavior Therapy; the ACT creator and the DBT creator have produced a few books & articles together.
(I've put some ACT links in a Books thread: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/books/20051228/msgs/617218.html)
:-D
poster:pseudoname
thread:653388
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/psycho/20060604/msgs/654453.html