Happiness is that state of mind constantly sought by all individuals. We will then try to escape from anger, pain, anxiety, discomfort: from all those emotions, in short, which cause malaise. Yet even negative moods are also part of life and make it complete.
Any experience, negative or positive, is the result of a human mind that works adequately. This is the basis on which theAcceptance and Commitment Therapy (Act), a form of psychotherapy that tries to explain how to accept everything that happens in life and that rests on three fundamental points:
- accept thoughts and emotions
- connect With your values
- translate values in effective actions.
Its purpose is to create a rich and full life, opening up to pain, teaching how to welcome it effectively to learn to be happy Without needing to deny all that happiness is not.
THE’Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
The Act was born and develops in the United States thanks to the psychoogus Steven Hayes. Act therapy takes on an unusual approach: teaches to accept, note and live personal events, especially unwanted ones, trying to get in touch with parts of themselves whose existence is not yet known.
The ACT focuses on the development of the psychological flexibilitybased on six fundamental processes:
- The contact With the present moment That is to be consciously in contact and participate in what happens. This also means in flexible awareness on the surrounding world, on a psychological level and both at the same time
- there Defusion Cognivo: teaches how to take a step back, separate from thoughts, images and memories. Distance himself to concretize that “I am what they are”
- acceptance: open up and make room for one’s feelings and sensations, whether they are positive or painful
- the self as a context (also called self -preservative), that is, being aware of his part who observes and aware of what you think by hearing, perceiving or doing at any time
- the valuesthat is, those qualities that are desired by carrying out an action and that in essence, their moral compass are
- the commitment committedtherefore acting effectively following the values themselves.
The ego is like a diamond
These six processes must be considered as independent and at the same time interconnected blocks. In fact, they form a single structure (technically called Hexaflex), which we can imagine as a diamond.
This image represents the psychological flexibilitywhich is one of the fundamental pillars of therapy and can be identified with the ability to be present, open up and do what is believed to be important. In addition, the six processes can be grouped in three functional units, since: in fact::
- defusion and acceptance refer to the ability to distinguish your person from thoughts and feelings, seeing them for what they really are
- the self as a context and contact with the moment persist on theget in touch with verbal and non -verbal aspects of the experience in the here and now
- The committed values and action instead involve theeffective use of language to facilitate the action aimed at improving one’s life.
Useful therapy to patient and professional
THE’Act It is an active therapy, a path that can be taken with adults or children through experiential exercises that usually last from ten seconds to half an hour.
Even sector specialists can get a lot from this practice, because it helps them better understand their patients. The proposed model is extremely positive: the goal is the comprehension and theacceptance of pain and negative feelings in general, to live a better life.
