by Steve Hayes | Aug 12, 2022 | Anxiety, Depression, Health, Mental Disorders, Mindfulness, Pain, psychological flexibility
Why does psychotherapy work? Until relatively recently, many scientists studying methods of improving mental and behavioral health have delayed answering that question. Instead, they argued, it’s better first to ask if a method works, and when we know that it does,...
by Steve Hayes | Jun 15, 2022 | Acceptance, Anxiety, Avoidance, Cognition, Depression, Emotion
Life is constantly teaching you to be smarter and wiser. With every consequence you face, you learn more about which actions likely lead to pleasure, and which actions likely result in pain. For instance, if you see a glowing, red circle on top of a stove, and you...
by Steve Hayes | May 22, 2022 | Acceptance, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Depression, Emotion, Human Suffering, Pain
Screens are everywhere in the modern world. We hang them on our walls and call them televisions; we haul them in our book bags and call them laptops; we carry them in our pockets and call them smartphones. What is on all of these screens is literally everything we can...
by Steve Hayes | Apr 30, 2022 | Acceptance, Anxiety, Depression, Emotion, Happiness, Human Beings, Human Suffering, Pain, Relationships
Imagine you had a friend who is there for you whenever you need them. Someone who cares about you, who listens patiently, and who is kind, forgiving, and compassionate. It’s probably fair to say that we all would want a friend like this. And even more: We likely all...
by Steve Hayes | Apr 4, 2022 | Anxiety, Depression, Emotion, Human Suffering
Why do we lash out at our partner, when we want to be kind and caring? Why do we isolate ourselves, when we already feel lonely, and crave connection? Why do we drink alcohol, smoke tobacco, and give in to other vices, when it harms our health? And why do we know all...
by Steve Hayes | Mar 19, 2022 | Anxiety, Health, Human Suffering
There are few events as traumatizing as war. As a soldier, you constantly face the odds of death or serious injury, while being ordered to inflict those same odds on enemy soldiers. As a refugee, you have to abandon life as you knew it, together with most of your...