Author: Georg H. Eifert ISBN : Product Detai New from Format: PDFAcceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT (pronounced as a word rather than letters), is an emerging psychotherapeutic technique first developed into a complete system in the book Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven Hayes, Kirk Strosahl, and Kelly Wilson.
ACT marks what some call a third wave in behavior therapy. To understand what this means, it helps to know that the first wave refers to traditional behavior therapy, which works to replace harmful behaviors with constructive ones through a learning principle called conditioning. Cognitive therapy, the second wave of behavior therapy, seeks to change problem behaviors by changing the thoughts that cause and perpetuate them.
In the third wave, behavior therapists have begun to explore traditionally nonclinical treatment techniques like acceptance, mindfulness, cognitive defusion, dialectics, values, spirituality, and relationship development. These therapies reexamine the causes and diagnoses of psychological problems, the treatment goals of psychotherapy, and even the definition of mental illness itself.
ACT earns its place in the third wave by reevaluating the traditional assumptions and goals of psychotherapy. The theoretical literature on which ACT is based questions our basic understanding of mental illness. It argues that the static condition of even mentally healthy individuals is one of suffering and struggle, so our grounds for calling one behavior 'normal' and another 'disordered' are murky at best. Instead of focusing on diagnosis and symptom etiology as a foundation for treatment-a traditional approach that implies, at least on some level, that there is something 'wrong' with the client-ACT therapists begin treatment by encouraging the client to accept without judgment the circumstances of his or her life as they are. Then therapists guide clients through a process of identifying a set of core values. The focus of therapy thereafter is making short and long term commitments to act in ways that affirm and further this set of values. Generally, the issue of diagnosing and treating a specific mental illness is set aside; in therapy, healing comes as a result of living a value-driven life rather than controlling or eradicating a particular set of symptoms.
Emerging therapies like ACT are absolutely the most current clinical techniques available to therapists. They are quickly becoming the focus of major clinical conferences, publications, and research. More importantly, these therapies represent an exciting advance in the treatment of mental illness and, therefore, a real opportunity to alleviate suffering and improve people's lives.
Not surprisingly, many therapists are eager to include ACT in their practices. ACT is well supported by theoretical publications and clinical research; what it has lacked, until the publication of this book, is a practical guide showing therapists exactly how to put these powerful new techniques to work for their own clients.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders adapts the principles of ACT into practical, step-by-step clinical methods that therapists can easily integrate into their practices. The book focuses on the broad class of anxiety disorders, the most common group of mental illnesses, which includes general anxiety, panic disorder, phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Written with therapists in mind, this book is easy to navigate, allowing busy professionals to find the information they need when they need it. It includes detailed examples of individual therapy sessions as well as many worksheets and exercises, the very important 'homework' clients do at home to reinforce work they do in the office. The book comes with a CD-ROM that includes electronic versions of all of the worksheets in the book as well as PowerPoint and audio features that make learning and teaching these techniques easy and engagin
- File Size: 2834 KB
- Print Length: 304 pages
- Publisher: New Harbinger Publications (June 30, 2005)
- Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
- Language: English
- ASIN: B001QXDG56
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #341,480 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders: A Practitioner's Treatment Guide to Using Mindfulness, Acceptance, and Values-Based Behavior Change Strategies PDF
In the wake of the growing popularity of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a number of books have been written that detail the ACT philosophy and approach to therapy. However, none is better than the recently published Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Anxiety Disorders by Georg H. Eifert and John P. Forsyth. Although the book is focused on treating anxiety disorders, the principles and techniques that are discussed are so far reaching that they are pertinent to the treatment of other types of psychopathology. Thus, this book is simply not just a `must read' for those who specialize in treating anxiety disorders but rather it is a book from which any psychotherapist at any level could benefit. What sets this book apart from others that describe the ACT and other like-minded approaches to therapy is that the authors have made the concepts easily digestible and the text effortless to read. At the same time, however, the authors have managed to keep the philosophy and approach undiluted. The techniques and "how-tos" are also presented in caring detail and integrated along with guidelines for case conceptualization. Another asset of the book is that the authors make every attempt to ground their approach in the state of the art psychological science. Not all "how-to" therapy books are as successful as this one in translating science into practice.
The book is divided into three sections. The first section entails a brief discussion of the ACT approach as well as an overview of the anxiety disorders and how more traditional cognitive-behavioral approaches conceptualize and treat anxiety disorders. In the next section of the book, the construct of anxiety and the findings from previous research are reframed in a manner that is consistent with ACT.
Eifert and Forsyth come up with the first unified treatment for all anxiety disorders that actually works--an accomplishment that deserves a place in the history of psychotherapy. They do a superb job at making their protocol accessible to therapists that are new to acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), including students. In the first chapters of the book, the authors explain with both rigor and clarity what ACT is all about, and contrast it with CBT. In a nutshell, while CBT focuses on symptom management and reduction, ACT focuses on symptom acceptance and doing, in spite of all the inner stuff that may show up, for purposes of living a chosen, valued life. ACT claims convincingly that the road to a good life and mental health is not trying to feel good, but to become able to do what is required (i.e., act) to live a meaningful life, guided by a person's valued directions. ACT is a new, powerful therapy, already with remarkable empirical support, that combines the best of what the psychotherapy world has to offer, that is, acceptance- and mindfulness-based, as well as experiential and existential-humanistic therapies with behavioral interventions, in particular exposure. Maybe exposure work, perhaps the main contribution of the behavioral traidition to psychotherapy, best illustrates the contrats between ACT and CBT: while in CBT exposure is undertaken with the purpose of reducing symptomatology, in ACT it is undertaken with the purpose of increasing behavioral flexibility, i.e., expanding the behavioral repertoire of the person in the presence of anxiety provoking stimuli, and ultimately actualize willingness to move in the direction of the person's values. A truly extraordinary book, and a must read for any therapist who hopes to remain in the cutting edge of his profession.
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