Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Blog Posts
Living By Intentions – What’s It All About For You?
What’s the point of you coming to psychotherapy? Why bother coming to couples counselling? Here’s my premise: it’s easy to start both activities and forget why you started in the first place. This is a reflection of how we live our lives. You fall into autopilot and do things because you’ve always done them, never…
Are You An Autopilot Zombie Sleepwalking To Your Doom?
Autopilot behaviour happens to us all. It’s all of those behaviours you do without even thinking. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is particularly interested in this behaviour because it often gets in the way of you having a rich, fulfilling life. Sometimes it’s like you’ve morphed into a zombie and you are sleepwalking yourself into Hell.…
Why New Year Resolutions Suck and What To Do Instead
Over this Christmas holiday, I have spent a higher that usual percentage of my week sitting on the sofa and force feeding myself. It’s tradition. Like a rather rotund hamster, I have shovelled the Quality Street and honey roasted peanuts down my gob in a way that would suggest they could be taken away from my at any…
The Magical Power Of “So What?”
Committed Action In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy I cringe at myself every time I ask a client to “tell me about your childhood. ” As a psychotherapist, it’s a legitimate question, but it’s so bloody stereotyped! It reminds me of one of my favourite tracks as a kid – “Hyperactive” – by Thomas Dolby. Now,…
How Funkadelic Saved My Sanity
Sometimes I get stuck. This information may come as a surprise to you. Even though I’m a therapist and have spent years studying the art of avoiding holes, I still fall into some deep pits when I’m on autopilot. When I got stuck last week, Funkadelic threw down a rope and pulled me out. Here’s…
The Top 10 Resources For Learning About Acceptance And Commitment Therapy
I deliver training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) at two levels at my therapy centre in Cheadle, Cheshire. If you know very little about ACT and want to know more you can come on my Introduction to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy course, which runs several times a year (click here to find out more).…
Contact With The Present Moment
Ever find yourself thinking about the future? What about working through all of those stupid, idiotic things you did in the past? Like most people you probably spend an inordinate amount of time engaging with fantasies about what might happen or dissecting the hows, whys and wherefores of your history. This is normal, this is…
Defusion. How To Deal With Difficult Thoughts.
Ever got stuck in thoughts? Had a thought going round and round in your head that’s driven you bonkers? Humans are a rare animal indeed. We have language. Language is an amazing tool and has allowed us to dominate the planet. The downside of language though is that we get stuck in it sometimes, a…
Values Based Living. How to Connect To What’s Important.
The vast majority of people who come and see me in my therapy centre in Cheadle want me to get rid of something for them. They want me to get rid of their anger, anxiety, sadness, grief, depression, jealousy or other unwanted feeling. This makes complete sense. Humans don’t like pain. We want to get…
Acceptance And Commitment Therapy Explained On A Postage Stamp
In my counselling practice in Cheadle, Cheshire I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) with many of my clients. Why? It works! In this post I will introduce you to the main concepts and explain how you can use them to move yourself towards a richer, more fulfilling life. Can you write small? If so…