Transcripts

Intro

Welcome to the Taking ACTion podcast, where we explore psychological flexibility through Acceptance & Commitment Therapy. But before I go into that, you probably have many questions. What is ACT? What is psychological flexibility? There are SIX processes?! That seems like it will take a long time! 

Worry not! Through the next six episodes of this podcast, we try to make it easy for  you to learn a little bit about each of the six core processes of ACT: Acceptance, Cognitive Defusion, Being Present, Self as Context, Values, and Committed Action. 

ACT’s main goal is to help you build psychological flexibility. Psychological flexibility encompasses emotional openness and the ability to adapt your thoughts and behaviors to better align with your values and goals.

The theory behind ACT is that it is counterproductive to try to control painful emotions or psychological experiences. Attempts to suppress these feelings ultimately lead to more distress. ACT adopts the view that there are other things you can do than trying to change the way you think, and these include mindful behavior, attention to personal values, and commitment to action. By taking steps to change your behavior while, at the same time, learning to accept your experiences, you can eventually change your attitudes and emotional states.

A great thing about ACT is that it was designed to be flexible. The six core processes do not have to be approached in any particular order for it to be effective. The episodes will be in the order I said previously: Acceptance, Cognitive Defusion, Being Present, Self as Context, Values, and Committed Action, but the processes all work together in harmony, so feel free to start with the episode about the core process that you are most interested in and go from there! Each of them will provide you with more information on the core process discussed in the episode, as well as guide you through an activity to demonstrate and help you to further understand the concepts and perhaps to be able to apply them in your own life. We hope you enjoy the information provided here, and if you would like further information, we encourage you to follow one of the links provided. 

Thank you for listening, we hope you enjoy learning more about ACT!