The activities on this page are all optional, if you want to see more about how things went with John, the man with IBS, you can have a look at the following videos:
These also give a sense of how the work might unfold. You dont see me doing a lot of defusion or self related work with John, its more about the processes described.
Further reading and links to other resources:
This is my developmentally paced reading list:
ACT Reading list May 2021
* indicates my recommended picks
Getting started gently (light reading)
*Twohig, M. P. (2012). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19(4), 499–507. doi:10.1016/j.cbpra.2012.04.003
*Batten, S. (2011) Essentials of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, London, Sage Publications Ltd.
OK: so I see the idea, how do I know the evidence is up to scratch?
Graham, C. D., Gouick, J., Krahé, C., & Gillanders, D. (2016). A systematic review of the use of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in chronic disease and long-term conditions. Clinical Psychology Review, 46, 46–58. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2016.04.009
A-Tjak, J. G. L., Davis, M. L., Morina, N., Powers, M. B., Smits, J. a J., & Emmelkamp, P. M. G. (2014). A Meta-Analysis of the Efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Clinically Relevant Mental and Physical Health Problems. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 84(1), 30–36. doi:10.1159/000365764
Swain, J., Hancock, K., Dixon, A., & Bowman, J. (2015). Acceptance and commitment therapy for children: A systematic review of intervention studies. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 1–13. doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2015.02.001
Levin, M. E., Hildebrandt, M. J., Lillis, J., & Hayes, S. C. (2012). The impact of treatment components suggested by the psychological flexibility model: a meta-analysis of laboratory-based component studies. Behavior therapy, 43(4), 741–56. doi:10.1016/j.beth.2012.05.003
Ost, L.-G. (2014). The efficacy of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 61, 105–21. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2014.07.018
Atkins, P. W. B., Ciarrochi, J., Gaudiano, B. A., Bricker, J. B., Donald, J., Rovner, G., … Hayes, S. C. (2017). Departing from the essential features of a high quality systematic review of psychotherapy: A response to Öst (2014) and recommendations for improvement. Behaviour Research and Therapy. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2017.05.016
Ost, L. G. (2017). Rebuttal of Atkins et al . ( 2017 ) critique of the Ost (2014) metaanalysis of ACT. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 97, 273–281. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2017.08.008
See the editor’s note and all three articles here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0005796717302486
Stockton, D., Kellett, S., Berrios, R., Sirois, F., Wilkinson, N., & Miles, G. (2019). Identifying the underlying mechanisms of change during acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT): A systematic review of contemporary mediation studies. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 47(3), 332–362. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1352465818000553
Gloster, A. T., Walder, N., Levin, M., Twohig, M., & Karekla, M. (2020). The Empirical Status of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: A Review of Meta-Analyses. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 18(September), 181–192. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.09.009
WOW: There seems to be something in here, so how do I learn how to do it?
*Join the Association for Contextual Behavioural Science (ACBS) at www.contextualscience.org Minimum fee is $15 and you can download lots of articles, therapy materials, measures etc. You can see my training page there with lots of goodies, including mp3 audio files of exercises: http://contextualscience.org/david_gillanders_training_page
Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2011). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (2nd Edition): The Process and Practice of Mindful Change (2nd ed.). New York: Guilford Press.
Harris, R. (2009). ACT made simple : an easy-to-read primer on acceptance and commitment therapy. Oakland: New Harbinger. (You can even download the first two chapters for free along with lots of other goodies at: http://www.thehappinesstrap.com/free_resources )
Stoddard, J. A., Afari, N. A., Hayes, S. C. (2014) The Big Book of ACT Metaphors: A Practitioner’s Guide to Experiential Exercises and Metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Oakland CA: New Harbinger
Luoma, J., Hayes, S., & Walser, R. Learning ACT: An Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills Training Manual (2nd Edition). New Harbinger, 2018.
*Villatte, M., Villatte, J. L., & Hayes, S. C. (2016). Mastering the Clinical Conversation: Language as Intervention. New York: Guilford Press. (also a website to support this work with videos: https://languageasintervention.com
Westrup, D. (2014). Advanced Acceptance & Commitment Therapy. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
I’m hooked: give me more!
*Wilson, K. G., & Dufrene, T. (2008). Mindfulness for Two: An acceptance and commitment therapy approach to mindfulness in psychotherapy. New Harbinger, Oakland. Its also supported by a website http://www.onelifellc.com/Workshop_Goodies.html
Tirch, D., Schoendorff, B., & Silberstein, L. R. (2014). The ACT Practitioner’s Guide to the Science of Compassion: Tools for Fostering Psychological Flexibility. Oakland CA: New Harbinger.
Polk, K. L., Schoendorf, B., Webster, M., & Olaz, F. O. (2016). The Essential Guide to the ACT Matrix: A step by step approach to using the ACT Matrix model in clinical practice. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
Mmmm, maybe I need more background in behaviour analysis…
*Ramnero, J., & Torneke, N. (2008). The ABC’s of Human Behavior: Behavioural Principles for the Practicing Clinician. New Harbinger, Oakland, CA.
http://www.tastybehaviorism.com/Welcome.html
I am a psychology geek and I want to know everything…
Zettle, R. D. (2005). The Evolution of a Contextual Approach to Therapy : From Comprehensive Distancing to ACT. International Journal, 1(2), 77-89.
Wilson, K. G. (2001). Some Notes On Theoretical Constructs: Types and Validation from a Contextual Behavioral Perspective. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 1(2), 205-215.
My brain is exploding but I need more – give me the strongest stuff you’ve got!!!!!!
Torneke, N. (2010). Learning RFT: An Introduction to Relational Frame Theory and its Clinical Application. Context Press, Reno, NV.
Foody, M., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., Törneke, N., Luciano, C., Stewart, I., & McEnteggart, C. (2014). RFT for clinical use: The example of metaphor. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 1–9. doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2014.08.001
Foody, M., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Luciano, C. (2013). An empirical investigation of hierarchical versus distinction relations in a self-based ACT exercise. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 13(3), 373–385.
Barnes-Holmes, Y., Boorman, J., Oliver, J. E., & Thompson, M. (2018). Using conceptual developments in RFT to direct case formulation and clinical intervention : Two case summaries. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 7(November 2017), 89–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2017.11.005
This is more than just a therapy – this is a vision of a different kind of psychology, tell me more…
Hayes, S. C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Wilson, K. G. (2012). Contextual Behavioral Science: Creating a science more adequate to the challenge of the human condition. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 1(1-2), 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.jcbs.2012.09.004
Wilson, D. S., Hayes, S. C., Biglan, A., & Embry, D. D. (2014). Evolving the future: Toward a science of intentional change. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 37(4), 395–416. http://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X13001593
Biglan, A. (2015). The Nurture Effect: How the science of human behavior can improve our lives and our world. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
I don’t like reading too much, isn’t there an easier way?
Russ Harris’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-sMFszAaa7C9poytIAmBvA/videos
Online Learning Courses from Russ Harris: Psychwire
Free Videos from ACBS: https://contextualscience.org/free_videos
Arthurs Place: A resource for young people with Juvenile idiopathic arthritis. I (David) made three short films for them about using ACT strategies to live well with persistent health problems:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK_RKnSGYdU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl046560jno&t=2s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=11sCEJI7hCI
Acting out the Passengers on the Bus Metaphor in Group Therapy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdeA-FKDLLc
Purchase the ACT in Action DVD’s (Steven Hayes) to stream:
https://www.psychotherapy.net/video/steven-hayes-act
Online and in person training (Primarily US based) (including some free videos and webinars)
https://www.praxiscet.com/
The ACT Matrix Academy
https://www.theactmatrixacademy.com/
Dr Kevin Polk
http://www.drkevinpolk.com/learn-about-act/
Podcasts
People Soup - a podcast by Ross McIntosh about psychological flexibility in teams, organisations and life in general
Psychologists Off the Clock - a podcast about the science and practice of living well
Cocktails & Courageous Conversations - webinar / conversations by Rikke Kjelgard
The original ACT in Context Podcast