ACT Mindfully: Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

ACT Mindfully: Acceptance & Commitment Therapy
April 2008 Newsletter

In This Issue:
1. Introduction
2. Main Article: Simplifying Defusion
3. ‘ACT In A Nutshell’ E-Course
4. Metaphor of the Month
5. The Happiness Trap: Update
6. Workshops 2008
7. Final Words

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1. Introduction
Welcome to the April 2008 ‘ACT Mindfully’ newsletter. (Previous issues are archived at newsletter_archives) I received a huge number of responses to my February newsletter about grief, and my painful struggle to come to terms with my son’s diagnosis of autism. Many parents wrote to tell me of their own painful journeys with their own children: absolutely heartbreaking tales of disease, disability, drug addiction, and death. Others wrote simply to express their support and empathy. i wish to thank all of you. Many of your letters contained beautiful quotes, and one in particular has stuck with me:
"There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief...and unspeakable love." - Washington Irving
On a separate note, this is actually the last ever ‘ACT Mindfully Newsletter’. This is because I have just created a new website, full of support materials for The Happiness Trap - which is imaginatively titled www.thehappinesstrap.com (For more information, see item 5). Thus, from May onwards, you will be receiving ‘The Happiness Trap' newsletter instead.

There are two exciting things about the new newsletter. Firstly, it is pitched at the general public, and will be relevant and understandable to everyone and everyone – your clients, friends, relatives, neighbors - even your household pets. So I hope you’ll forward it on to everyone you know who is interested in enriching their life. (There will still be a section for professionals only – but it will be ‘hidden’ and accessed via a link, so it doesn’t take up space in the main newsletter.) Secondly, the newsletter will come out once a month, instead of every 2 to 3 months.
I hope you enjoy it. And if you want to make sure it doesn’t get rejected as spam, you’ll need to add this address to your safe senders list:

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2. Main Article: Simplifying Defusion
There are all sorts of fancy, zany, and wildly imaginative defusion techniques – and you can certainly have a lot of fun inventing your own, and/or getting your clients to do so. However, I find there are plenty of times where for one reason or another, I just like to keep it all very simple. So here are a few of the simplest defusion interventions I know.
a) ‘Just notice what your mind is telling you right now.’
I just love the simplicity of this phrase. It is usually instantly defusing. It instantly reframes ‘the mind’ as a story-teller, and gets you to notice your thoughts rather than being caught up in them. Sure, it may not give you a huge degree of defusion – but it rapidly creates a little distance from your thoughts. This can than be increased by adding in any number of brief defusion techniques. For example, you can ask questions like: ‘Is this a helpful thought?’, ‘How old is this story?’, ‘What would happen if you allowed yourself to get all caught up in this? Would it be a good use of your time and energy?’ Alternatively you might go for responses such as those in b) below.
b) Notice the form ...
You can ask your client to notice the form of the thought: ‘Is it made up of words, sounds or pictures? Do you see it or hear it or just sense it?’
You may choose to focus on the sound: ‘What does that thought sound like in your head? Is it your own voice, or somebody else’s? Is it loud or soft? What emotion can you hear in that voice?’
Or you may focus on location and movement: ‘Just close your eyes for a moment and notice, where does that thought seem to be: in front of you, above you, behind you, inside your head, inside your body? Is it moving or still? If moving, what direction, and what speed?’
c) ‘If Your Hands Were Your Thoughts’ exercise.
Imagine for a moment that your hands are your thoughts. Place your hands side by side, palm upwards, as if they are the pages of an open book. Hold them out in front of you. Notice that you can see your hands clearly, and you can also clearly see the room around you. Now, ever so slowly, raise your hands up towards your face, until they are both touching your face and completely covering your eyes – and then notice what has happened to your view of the room around you.
What did you notice? You could probably see bits and pieces of the room through the gaps in your fingers, but most of the room disappeared completely from view. This is what happens when we fuse with our thoughts – we get so caught up in them, we lose touch with the big picture, or the world around us.
You will also notice that while your hands are covering your face, it is difficult to act effectively. If you tried to drive a car or chop vegetables or type on a computer or cuddle a baby, with both your hands in front of your face, it would be very difficult. Similarly it is difficult for you to act effectively, according to your values, when you are all caught up in your thoughts.
d) ‘That’s an interesting thought.’
This is what I say when I don’t know what to say. When a client says something that throws me, or triggers a strong reaction, or sets my mind in a frenzy trying to figure out how to respond, I find this little phrase stops me from rushing in and getting caught up in the content. It’s a simple phrase that reminds both me and the client that no matter what they have just said, what we are dealing with is a thought. And it invites us both to stop and look at the thought, rather than leaping straight into the content of the thought. I often follow this statement with a long pause – which allows me to centre myself, so I can respond effectively and mindfully.
By the way, this article is actually a short extract from part 8 of my new 10-part ‘ACT In A Nutshell’ E-course. I’m very excited about this course, which is the first of its kind in the ACT world. To know more, read on …

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3. ‘ACT In A Nutshell’ E-Course
'ACT In A Nutshell' is a ten week e-course for professionals, that teaches you how to deliver ACT simply, quickly and effectively, to just about anyone, anywhere. It will be a useful addition to any ACT training you may have done - either with myself or others. (And it is also a fantastic resource for anyone who delivers ACT training, or has to give presentations on ACT). Once a week, for ten weeks, you will receive an email packed with useful ideas and information, with links to download a variety of useful resources (many of which are available nowhere else). This will be of huge value to all coaches, therapists, and health professionals - especially anyone who works in a time-limited setting, such as GPs and EAPs. If you are interested in learning how to make ACT simpler, quicker, and more effective, you will benefit enormously from this course.
I'm so convinced of the benefits of this course, I will make you a money-back guarantee: if you do not find that this course gives you value for money, then for any time up to one year after you have enrolled, I will more than happily give you a complete refund - no questions asked. Furthermore, in keeping with my philosophy of providing high quality resources at low cost, I have set the fee at only $24.95. (A brief comparison with similar e-courses from other websites will show you what excellent value this is.) To enroll, or find out more, go to: e-courses

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4. Metaphor of the Month
The ‘annoying passenger’ is a good metaphor for workability and defusion. It makes the point that whether a thought is true or not doesn't matter (at least, most of the time); what matters is what you do when that thought shows up. Is it more workable to get caught up in that thought and give it all your attention - or is it more workable to just acknowledge its presence, and focus on doing what matters?
Suppose you are driving your car, and you have an annoying passenger beside you who keeps saying, 'Watch out. You might crash the car. You could lose control at any moment. You could get killed. People die in car accidents all the time.'
Well, those comments are all true. But if you're driving your car, what's most important to focus on? The passenger's comments, or your own driving? And what happens to your driving ability if you get into an argument with the passenger, trying to make him shut up? Can you let the passenger say whatever he wants to, and keep your attention on the road?

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5. The Happiness Trap: Update
The Happiness Trap has now officially hit best-seller status in Australia, having sold 10,000 copies since its release in March 2007. Your clients can now easily get it from any Borders bookstore. In June this year it will also be published in the UK and the USA, and it is due to come out soon in Germany, Mexico, Latin America, India, China, Korea and Thailand.
I have designed a new website to support both professionals and members of the public that are using the book. It is packed with resources, many of them free, that can be used in conjunction with the book. Not every page is fully functional yet, but most of it is. So please take a look at www.thehappinesstrap.com and let me know if there’s anything you’d like added to the site, either for yourself or your clients.

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6. Workshops 2008
I’ve listed quite a few of my workshops for the second half of 2008: click here for details. (Note: I haven’t yet organized the ACT Skills-training workshops, or the ACT for Couples workshops. These are looking like November workshops.)
John Forsyth is running ADVANCED workshops on ACT with Anxiety Disorders in Perth, Sydney and Brisbane, in July. For a Perth & Brisbane flyer, click here (NB the Perth dates on this flyer are wrong - should be July 21 & 22) For a Sydney flyer, click here

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7. Final Words
I’ll leave you with 3 beautiful quotes from Rumi, the 13th Century Persian poet and mystic:
• “Only from the heart can you touch the sky.”
• “You were born with wings. Why prefer to crawl through life?”
• “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.”
All the best,
See you next month in The Happiness Trap newsletter,
Cheers, Russ Harris