Category: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
The Good Therapy Blog
January 27th, 2012 |
After having worked in a residential treatment facility for abused and neglected girls for 8 years, I observed that the phenomenon of learned helplessness had become an all-to-common denominator for these children. It was very rare that an abused child was placed with us for a single incident of abuse. By the time these children reached our facility, many of them had already been physically or sexually abused numerous times throughout their childhood and adolescence.
Many times these children had been abused not by a single perpetrator but by several different people, including members of their... Read More
January 24th, 2012 |
Tinnitus is a disabling condition that causes an individual to perceive sounds that are not present. Over 10% of the population suffers with this condition, with nearly 2% of the entire population struggling with tinnitus in the extremely distressing ranges. People in this category have symptoms similar to those who struggle with chronic pain or diabetes. When tinnitus gets severe enough it can lead to loss of concentration, cognitive impairment, emotional distress, and even insomnia. Nearly half of those who have tinnitus also... Read More
© Copyright 2012 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Colorado Springs Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
November 21st, 2011 |
Many people come to therapy wanting to know why they have certain problems. They’ve been struggling with this problem for a long time and they want to understand why, because if they could just figure out the cause of the problem, they might be able to solve it. They might say something along the lines of:
“I just always have these thoughts about how other people are constantly judging me and criticizing me, and even though I know it’s probably not true, I can’t help the thoughts from being there. I don’t want to have to worry so much about what other people think of me. Why am I like... Read More
November 8th, 2011 |
Shame is an emotion that is exhibited by many people with addictions and substance use issues. “Shame is also the emotional core of self-stigma, which has been associated with treatment-seeking delays, treatment dropout, and poorer social functioning,” said Jason B. Luoma, of the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center in Portland, Oregon. “Shame has long been seen as relevant to substance use disorders and their treatment, but the precise nature of the relationship and how best... Read More
© Copyright 2011 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Lake Oswego Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
October 17th, 2011 |
Nobody likes pain. It makes sense that we make every attempt to avoid it or make it go away. That’s just part of being human. But why do some humans seem to have less of it than others? There are two types of pain: clean pain and dirty pain. We don’t have a whole lot of choice about our clean pain. But we can create dreadful amounts of dirty pain throughout our lives in reaction to the clean pain.
We start to experience clean pain on the very first day of our lives as we enter a bright, loud, cold, and unfamiliar world. As we develop, our experience of pain expands from physical pain to... Read More
August 29th, 2011 |
What does therapy actually do? How does it work? Does anyone really ever change? The field of neuroscience has exploded in recent years, revealing a number of findings about the human brain; how it develops, how it operates, and how it changes. Neuroplasticity explains that the brain is not a rigid organ, but is malleable, and changes throughout life, both in structure and function. This change happens through our experience. We actively change our brains by the way we respond to our environment.
The brain and nervous system are made up of millions of neurons and hold the capacity to connect... Read More
July 27th, 2011 |
It’s a classic. Of all the themes in the history of relational strife, the I’m Right, You’re Wrong story is by far the most common. And like many things common, we often take it for granted or overlook the magnitude of its influence. When couples enter into therapy together, it may be a hidden goal for each of them to convince their therapist that they are right and the other is wrong. They demonstrate this in many ways, either subtly or in more painfully blatant... Read More
June 25th, 2011 |
One of the cornerstones of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is the concept of workability. The aim of ACT is for our clients to create a rich, meaningful, and vibrant life. Workability is how we determine whether a client’s behaviors are serving that end. Usually, people know when their behaviors are not working for them, but because they are often fused with their thoughts, they may have a hard time acting any other way. Instead... Read More
May 26th, 2011 |
When I was a youngster, about eight years old, I played hide and seek with some of the neighborhood kids. As I fervently and keenly scanned for a good hiding place I happened upon a broken down and rusted refrigerator in an old man’s yard. It was the perfect size so I quickly hopped inside and shut the door (which had lost all of it’s suction) behind me and waited out the hunt smiling with eager anticipation. I emerged from that old icebox the victor that day.
As an eight year old, this thing was not just an old refrigerator; it was the perfect hiding spot. To the uptight neighbor across... Read More
October 25th, 2010 |
What is “mindfulness?”
“Mindfulness is: paying attention, on purpose, in a particular way, in the present moment, with non-judging awareness.”
Jon Kabat-Zinn
“Mindfulness is being aware of what we’re doing while we’re doing it.”
"The root [of mindfulness] is experiencing the itch as well as the urge to scratch, and then not acting it out."
Pema Chödrön
“In mindfulness we learn to awaken from unconscious absorption in thoughts and feelings.”
Christopher Germer
The heart of mindfulness is the cultivation of attention to “things as they are,” with an... Read More
April 1st, 2009 |
A GoodTherapy.org News Update
Chronic physical pain with no known source is a problem that affects millions of Americans, wreaking havoc on professional and personal lives and in many cases, paving the way to depression. It seems unfortunate that those who suffer from chronic pain must do so without understanding why they hurt, nor how they can help alleviate the symptoms. This is especially true in the case of children afflicted with chronic pain. Whether... Read More
© Copyright 2009 by http://www.GoodTherapy.org Therapist Austin Bureau - All Rights Reserved.
