GlossarySome common terms used in ACT - the Matrix.
Title Text.Psychological FlexibilityACT (both Training and Therapy) are "pointed at" psychological flexibility. We all get stuck in our minds at times, leading us to doing things that don't work over and over again. ACT is about getting less stuck in our minds so we are more flexible in the moment to learn what works to move toward values. One of the simplest ways to get a little less stuck is "Sorting." In order to sort we "step back" from our mind just a bit and sort. Try it, you will see what I mean.
Said another way: You choose a Valued Life direction. The goal is to learn what works to move you in that direction. In order efficiently learn you need to be flexible in the moment. That is, you are willing to take some fear, doubt and other things with you while you try new valued behaviors. Increased psychological flexibility means you are free to choose multiple behaviors instead of just one. This sounds simple, but we all have areas in which our minds tell us there is only one choice, when in fact there are at least several choices. ACT is about pausing and noticing the choices before us. SortingThis video is about Sorting. This is what we use to get at the Present Moment and Self-as-Context part of ACT. That is, to sort you are in the present moment and to notice the difference between 5-Senses and Mental Experiencing you take a distanced, Self-as-Context view. A big part of our program is having people sort stories.
ValuesIn ACT values are chosen directions. Just like a compass point. You can choose to travel east all day, stop, go to bed, get up and travel east all the next day. You can keep moving east until the end of your life. In ACT values are much the same. For example: Friendship. Every day you can move toward friendship. There is no endpoint to the things you can do for friendship. This is the case with all values.
The Rule of the WorldIf you don't want it, get rid of it.
or If it's broke, fix it. Also known as The Rule of the Physical World this simply means that you are dealing with objects that you can throw away or fix. If you don't like a car, you can get rid of it. If the car is broken, you can get it fixed. The human mind is excellent at the rule of the world. It can dream up all kinds of fixes and dream up all kinds of new objects. Just look around you and see. The Rule of the MindIf you don't want it, you got it.
The Mind operate on a completely different rule that the Rule of the World. If you don't want something in your mind, it's instantly in your mind. For example, don't think about pink elephants. Whatever you do, don't think about pink elephants. We all have periods of not wanting something in our minds, and the more we don't want it, the more it's there. Even if you manage to distract your mind, whatever you distracted it to is now related to the thing you don't want to think about. So, from the "pink elephant" example, if you think about cooking to not think about pink elephants, now cooking and pink elephants are related. In the future when you think about cooking, you just may think about pink elephants. Having a Thought
| Are you interesting in moving toward increased Psychological Flexibility and Creativity? Just type in your email address below and receive a free e-book.The MatrixThe Matrix Diagram facilitates conversations about learning what works to move toward values. To set up the context for learning what works we go about: 1. Noticing the difference between 5-Senses experiencing and Mental Experiencing And 2. Noticing the difference between moving Toward important things and moving Away from unwanted mental experiencing. We notice the difference between 5-Senses and Mental Experiencing to help with getting out of our minds. That is, most of use tend to think too much. Noticing the difference between the two experiences help balance that out. We notice the difference between moving Toward and Moving away to learn what behaviors work for Values. Please Note: Away and Toward are NOT bad or good. They are just moves. Kevin Willing and UnwillingYou will often hear ACT folks talking about Willingness. Willingness means you are willing to take unwanted mental experiencing along with you while taking a committed action toward a value.
Imagine that you are making a move toward a value like work. Let's say you are doing a job interview. You are really afraid that you might NOT get the job. It's only natural that you will have fear. To be Willing means you take the fear with you, noticing the fear and carrying it at the same time. Sort of like you had the fear in a backpack that weighed only a couple of pounds (kilo). You don't struggle with the fear, you just know it's there. Contrast this with fighting the fear. You don't want to have the fear because you fear the fear is going to mess up your interview. The fear gets heavier and heavier. You might do the interview, but you "white knuckle" the willingness to take the fear along. Finally, you can increase the struggle with the fear to the point that you do an Away move. Maybe you postpone the interview to move Away from the fear. That's called Unwilling to have the fear. This is not to say that moving away from fear (or any other unwanted mental experience) is a bad thing. Moving away from fear when a bus is coming at you is a life enhancing move. So the task because to Notice the Difference between willing and unwilling. Notice when you are willing and not when you are unwilling and notice how both work to move you toward what's important to you. Committed ActionA committed action is an action taken Toward a value. It means that you are consciously taking the action toward the value; you have committed to it.
Karma YogaKarma Yoga is a term that refers to taking a Valued Action without regard for reciprocity for the action. For example, you might say, "Have a nice day" to someone without expecting the same in return. Saying, "Have a nice day" is simply done for the value of citizenship (or some other value) without regard for getting something back.
As you learn more and more about ACT you will discover that a valued move us just a valued move. You do the move because you know it's for a value, not for the outcome of the move. Self as ContextThis is the stickiest term in ACT. It's much easier to do it. Simply go to the Matrix on the home page and Notice the Difference between your 5-Senses experiencing of something (like a pen) and your mental experiencing (put the pen aside and experience the 5-senses in your mind). In order to Notice the Difference you use the 'me'; a Self-as-Context view.
Another nice way to do SAC (self as context) is to notice yourself sitting there now. Then think back and "see" yourself about ten years ago. Then think forward about ten years. What is constant? It's the 'me' that can see me here now and me there then. You can go on and on writing about self as context. It's like writing about balancing on a bicycle. At this point in my ACT career, if I see the heading "Self as Context" in a book, I skip over it. I know that's unwilling, but I just can't read any more about it. Kevin HooksHooks is a term from Kevin and Jerold's intensive ACT program that was moved over to the Training part of ACT. We all get Hooked at times.
Think of getting cut off in traffic, really cut off so you have to slam on your breaks and steer out of the way. Once you are stopped you look over at the other driver, who looks at you, laughs and makes an obscene gesture at you. How do you feel? You get home in about 30 minutes and there is someone there to meet you. What's the first thing you tell him or her about? You bet, that *&$^# driver who cut you off and flipped you off. You are hooked. Hooks are not just negatives; have you ever fallen in love? Yup, hooked again. Hooks are very useful in doing ACT "out on the streets." We can train ourselves to notice hooks and then notice what we do next. This is one of the most powerful of the ACT exercises. |
RFT
RFT is the acronym for Relational Frame Theory. This is the theory of Language and Cognition that ACT is based upon. To say the least, RFT can be very confusing. It's a very scientific explanation of language and cognition, and therefore is has carefully defined technical terms. It's really hard to read.
At it's roots RFT is like any other theory of language. It sets out to explain how 5-Senses experiencing is transformed into thinking that is then spoken.
So when you were a baby and toddler you maybe encountered bananas. However, then you first encountered one you did not have the word 'banana' in your vocabulary. That did not keep you from experiencing the banana, however. Of course you did, including eating it. Your parents and other kept saying the sound "b a n a n a" around the time you were experiencing bananas and finally the sound "b a n a n a" came to represent the Yellow, Sweet Tasting thing with a skin you could peel off. Later in life if you hear or read the word 'banana' you "see" a banana and "taste" a banana. In other words, the 5-senses experiencing was transformed into thinking and language. RFT just goes about giving a very technical explanation of this process. RFT says that the sensory stuff of the banana, plus the mental functions of the banana, e.g. Hunger goes away, it's fun to squish it, etc., get RELATED to the word banana.
Fortunately, in ACT we don't need such a technical explanation.
At it's roots RFT is like any other theory of language. It sets out to explain how 5-Senses experiencing is transformed into thinking that is then spoken.
So when you were a baby and toddler you maybe encountered bananas. However, then you first encountered one you did not have the word 'banana' in your vocabulary. That did not keep you from experiencing the banana, however. Of course you did, including eating it. Your parents and other kept saying the sound "b a n a n a" around the time you were experiencing bananas and finally the sound "b a n a n a" came to represent the Yellow, Sweet Tasting thing with a skin you could peel off. Later in life if you hear or read the word 'banana' you "see" a banana and "taste" a banana. In other words, the 5-senses experiencing was transformed into thinking and language. RFT just goes about giving a very technical explanation of this process. RFT says that the sensory stuff of the banana, plus the mental functions of the banana, e.g. Hunger goes away, it's fun to squish it, etc., get RELATED to the word banana.
Fortunately, in ACT we don't need such a technical explanation.
Disclaimer
This is not a "therapy" web site. Please contact your local mental health care professional for counseling or therapy. Also, there are no guarantees of increased psychological flexibility or anything else. However, there is some good evidence that doing the exercises described on the pages of this website have a better than 50/50 chance of increasing psychological flexibility. Results will vary.