Arches & Pillars & Points, Oh My: What’s Up With This Response Style Stuff?

1. Arches & Pillars & Points, Oh My: What’s Up With This Response Style Stuff? Kirk Strosahl PhD ACBS World Conference mountainconsult@msn.com

2. The Era of Dissemination • ACT has moved from “fringe radical alien like intelligence” idea to mainstream CBT • With it, the model itself is subject to more research scrutiny • With it, the model is being practiced by a wider and wider circle of clinicians • Core ACT concepts need to be “translated” and “condensed” to meet the demands of the new set of end users

3. The Crux of the Problem • Principle of Parsimony: The simpler explanation, as long as it accounts for the phenomenon at hand, is preferable to the complex explanation! • Principle of Learning: Simpler concepts are easier to teach with fidelity than complex ones • Principle of Adoption: Global constructs are easier to sell than micro level discriminations • Does the ACT model as currently constituted meet these important end user requirements?

4. The Official Party Line • “Intervening with one ACT core process will tend to trigger movement in other core processes” • HENCE . . .

5. Psychological Flexibility Does This Seem Parsimonious?

6. The Unofficial Party Line • Even though “technically” working on one ACT core process should stimulate the others, the reality is that core processes, like the content of distressing private events, tend to “hang out” together, to wit:

7. Acceptance and Mindfulness Processes “Left and Center”

8. “Right and Center” Commitment and Behavior Change Processes Thus the name “Acceptance and Commitment Therapy”

9. What Appears Is Magic! • Self related processes function as the “lynch pin” for all of ACT work (wiper blade analogy) • Acceptance and defusion seem to hang out together • Values and committed action tend to be soul mates • What are we looking at here??

10. To Simplify, Think of Three Main Polarities In ACT Practice • Acceptance—Fusion polarity contains defusion, willingness, acceptance • This undermines emotional avoidance • Choose mindfully—mindless choosing polarity contains self experience, evaluation/reason giving and valuing • This undermines rule following, hidden evaluations, reason giving and attachment to the self story • Take action-avoidance of action polarity contains willingness, value based goal setting to create exposure to vitality producing life moments • This undermines behavioral avoidance

11. Three Arches (Pillars) of ACT • Acceptance—Fusion polarity contains defusion, willingness, acceptance—we will call this a tendency to be “OPEN” • This undermines emotional avoidance • Choose mindfully---automatic pilot polarity contains self experience, evaluation/reason giving and valuing—we will call this a style of being “AWARE” • This undermines fusion with rules, hidden evaluations, reason giving and attachment to the self story • Take action-avoidance of action polarity contains willingness, value based goal setting to create exposure to vitality producing life moments—we will call this a tendency to be “ENGAGED” • This undermines behavioral avoidance

12. A Definition of Core ACT Response Styles • OPEN: Accepting Versus Rejecting Stance Toward Unwanted Experience • Willingness to stand with all forms of personal experience • Defused, non-judgmental witnessing stance • AWARE: Chosen Versus Automatic Behavior Style • Balance between present moment experience & absorption in self process • Ability to take perspective, identify values and pick responses • ENGAGED: Taking Action Versus Avoiding Action • Willingness to put self in harms way based upon values • Ability to persist with value based commitments and change strategies based upon results