by Steve Hayes | Jan 9, 2023 | ACT, Health, Human Suffering, Pain
A long time ago, I almost lost my life at work. My dad sold aluminium to aircraft manufacturers in San Diego, and I was working in the factory to put myself through college. Among other things, they produced aluminium foil, which required house-sized machines to...
by Steve Hayes | Nov 24, 2022 | Evidence-Based Psychotherapy, Health
The history of psychedelics is deeply intertwined with the history of humanity. Indigenous cultures often ingested hallucinogenic substances in spiritual rituals to build deeper connections with nature and different deities. They used them to heal wounds, to prepare...
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 | Jul 1, 2022 | Clinicians, Evidence-Based Psychotherapy, Health
The internet is full of advice. I’ve written a few self-help books myself and I’ve created many scores of blogs and podcasts focused on processes of change. The psychological flexibility model that undergirds ACT is one of the most important sets of helpful...
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...
by Steve Hayes | Apr 12, 2021 | Acceptance, Anxiety, Emotion, Happiness, Health
Imagine you are sitting in a car, and you are driving down a lonely highway. Suddenly, in the middle of nowhere, a warning light goes off. Your oil pressure is very low. If you just ignore it and continue your drive, you run the risk of doing serious damage to your...