The pioneering originator of ACT teaches the evidence-based principles to overcome negative thoughts and feelings, become more effective, and transform your quality of life.
Have you ever tried to “think” your way out of emotional turmoil – and ended up feeling even worse? Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) emerges from a remarkable insight: When you apply normal problem-solving skills to painful thoughts or feelings, suffering often becomes MORE, and not less.
Dr. Steven C. Hayes, originator and co-developer of ACT, has found this to be true in almost every area of life’s struggles. “Fortunately,” he begins, “we have discovered why this is, and we have developed ways of correcting it.“
For more than 30 years, ACT has been used effectively to treat not only mental and behavioral health problems such as anxiety and depression, but to help support workplace success, sports performance, weight loss, and social change.
ACT works by helping us to accept and learn from our emotions, to think more freely and flexibly, and to find a liberating new perspective that allows us to take action based on what matters most to us.
In this audio course, you will join Steven Hayes to learn firsthand about the essentials of ACT, and how to apply it in your own life. Get the proven tools to overcome negative thoughts and feelings, become more effective and flexible, and transform your life.
Course Curriculum
Session One: Learning to Let Life Be Your Teacher
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Stepping into your journey to psychological flexibility
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Panic and the toxic triad: pain, social comparison, and judgment
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Popping the illusion of mind
Session Two: Examining Your Sense of Self
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Self-conceptualization and belonging
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Becoming conscious of the consciousness in others
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Moving forward without attachment to our stories
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Witnessing life from your perspective-taking sense of self
Session Three: Opening Up to Letting Go
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Understanding the illusion of mind
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Seeking literal coherence
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Practices for leaping into healthy wholeness
Session Four: Living With Your Yes
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How we handle our feelings
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Challenging experiential avoidance
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Learning how to jump: expanding our capacity to feel
Session Five: Coming Into the Present Moment
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Living inside the extended present
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What we’re yearning for in the present
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Lining up your psychology to be here now
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Splitting the beam: why avoidance doesn’t work
Session Six: Identifying Values
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The importance of values and turning in a new direction
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Distinguishing between values and goals
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Four ways into the heart’s deepest desires
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Discovering how you want to be in the world
Session Seven: Committed Action
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The trial and error process
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Setting SMART goals
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Understanding values work
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Modeling psychological flexibility in relationships
Session Eight: Bringing It All Together
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Applying ACT processes to your life
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Building your ACT toolkit one step at a time
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How to know you’re making progress
About Steven Hayes
Steven C. Hayes is Nevada Foundation Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada. An author of 45 books and over 625 scientific articles. He is the developer of Relational Frame Theory, and has guided its extension to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) a popular evidence-based form of psychotherapy that is now practiced by tens of thousands of clinicians all around the world.
Dr. Hayes has been President of several scientific and professional societies including the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT), and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science. He was listed by the Institute of Scientific Information as the 30th “highest impact” psychologist in the world, and Google Scholar citations place him among the most cited scientists in the world. He has received the lifetime achievement award from ABCT and is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, among numerous other awards.