1. Beautiful Mind
2. Pretty much the whole thing. The main character, John Nash (Nobel Prize winner in economics), has schizophrenia and despite active hallucinations and delusions, he chooses NOT to be on antipsychotic medication (side effects are blunted affect and he isn't as clear in his genious mathematical ability). Nash chooses to just let his hallucinations be present and not to let his behavior be guided by belief in them as literal "truth". In turn, they follow him around for the rest of his life; a vital life full of meaningful experiences with his wife and his work.
3. ACT Principles: acceptance, willingness, defusion, choice and valued action.

A Beautiful Mind - Comment submitted by Steven Hayes on February 12, 2006.

We all have our little girls following us around, hallucination or no. We need to learn to acknowledge them and then, sad though it is, to learn to be silent if it is costing us what we value to do otherwise.

You could do a lot worse when asked to explain ACT that simply to say "it is teaching folks how to do A Beautiful Mind thing with their own struggles"

- S

Steven C. Hayes, University of Nevada

This movie is all about psychological inflexibility. Warren Schmidt (magnificent played by Jack Nicholson) is a man who's identity is built around his work (he is vice-president of an insurance-company). The film starts with his retirement's party: beautiful words spoken, compliments given..., but only one day later he discovers that he's not welcome anymore at the office, and all his work ends up in a garbage can. Soon after that his wife suddenly dies, and although he feels like a prisoner in his marriage for over 42 years, he loses in a short time everything.

From that moment on his orderly life becomes chaotic and impulsive. He start's traveling with his king-size camper, visiting his daughter, finding out that he has never connected to her because of his work and now she doesn't need him anymore. He's afraid of intimacy and is running away from it or he spoils the moments were it's growing. He can only connect to his "true" feelings in the letters to Ngudu, a foster-child in Africa he has adopted for $22 a month, and to whom he writes from time to time (although the child is to young to read his letters).

It is there where psychological flexibility starts, painfully facing the life he lived. I would say a movie about self-as-content, experiential avoidance, lack of values and impulsive behaviors.

Must-see!!!

1. American Beauty
2. Much of the movie can be cast into terms relevant to clinical work with ACT. I often refer to people having an "American Beauty" moment in which they wake up one day and realize how their lack of mindfulness/life momentum has led them very far off-course from a path consistent with their values (like the Kevin Spacey character and others).
3. ACT Principle: There are numerous illustrations of mindfulness (and lack thereof) and the cost of experiential avoidance in the behaviors and choices of the characters.

1. American History X
2. 6 hexaflex points
3. I think this film could be seen as illustrating all the Hexaflex points: 

Contact with the present moment- (this is the one I'm least sure about): there is a scene between the main character (white supremacist Derrick Vinyard) & a fellow prisoner (Lamont), who is black, where Derrick manages to make contact with the humour of Lamont's impression of 'angry sex' despite his deeply ingrained mind story of racial hatred.

Acceptance - two scenes stand out here: the first is when Derrick is recovering in the prison hospital after being raped & he is visited by his old school principal, Dr Sweeney, & for the first time in the film Derrick accepts any other emotion than anger, which is demonstrated by his crying (sadness) & acknowledgment of not knowing what to do (uncertainty). Second example is toward the end of the film when Derrick is asked by the police to help deal with the inevitable inter-racial tensions following an attack &, despite Derrick not wanting to get involved, he reluctantly agrees to help as he sees that he must accept his responsibility for the situation.

Defusion - the whole of the film post Derrick's release from prison is about him defusing from his racist beliefs & trying to achieve the same with his younger brother, Danny.

Self-as-content: Similarly, Derrick & Danny both identify strongly with their white supremacist beliefs throughout most of the film, even to the point of tattooing swastikas on to themselves, adopting the skinhead hairstyle, indulging in racist attacks etc. It is only when they can stand back from this view can they find compassion & a flexibility of mind.

Values: during the previosuly mentioned scene when Derrick is in the prison hospital & is visited by Dr Sweeney, he is asked by his ex-principal "Has anything you've done made your life better?" This is clearly a turning point for Derrick who then accepts Dr Sweeney's advice & acts on it by reading the books he has brought him. He also defuses from his racist view of the man & sees his true worth. His belief in his racist values is also undermined when he sees the leader of the white supremacist gang trade drugs with a Mexican gang - he remains true to his values at that point by leaving their protection, but pays a heavy price when he is then raped by the gang members.

Commitment: On leaving prison Derrick commits to turning his back on his racist way of life & behaving truer to his values of being a good example for his younger brother & trying to do his best for his family (with whom he previously fought & bullied). 

Surprisingly and overwhelmingly ACT-consistent...Happy FeetI don't have time right now for the whole hexaflex thing but I just saw Happy Feet. For those of you who don't know, it is an animated Disney film with penguin stars. It was great, and there are wonderful messages in there about acceptance and valuing. It would be great to watch with children to spark discussions about all kinds of things from prejudice to global warming. Plus, it was just really darn cute! 

I should note that there are definitely some stereotyped characters in this movie. If anyone is offended by those kinds of things, be forewarned. Still, I think that the message far outweighs that stuff.

Amy

The film focuses on the life of a current day horse handler/cowboy living his values while acknowledging past abuse, even drawing on what that experience got him in contact with and utilizing it. Acceptance, committed action and present moment focus are all over the place.
 

There is not a particular scene in Crash that I think demonstrates the issues of values and defusion, I think as a therapist you could use the film as a whole to talk about values and defusion (evaluation, that is).

The movie is about racism in Los Angeles, how ordinary people do nasty things to each other on the basis of prejudice and how people make choices in the service of their values and in the service of fear.

To start with evaluation: You could ask a client who are the bad guys and who are the good guys. The nice thing about the movie is that all the characters are doing things that hurt other people and that help other people. So there is no good or bad. And you could talk about how prejudice is something we all do, because of relational framing. And that you can ACT in a different way.

The aspect of values and commited action is closely related. You can talk with a client about the characters: When do they move in the direction of their values and when are they moving in a opposite direction. And relate this to values that clients have for themselves.

Jacqueline

1. Elizabethtown
2. Number of Hexaflex Points :3
3. When Kirstin Dunst says to Orlando Boom: ' ok, you failed. You failed, you failed, you failed etc' ; whole movie is about living a values-led life, in the present
4. Nice example of defusion through repetition as per Milk, milk, milk

However,example of self as content when Dunst is fused with what it means to be 'a Claire' (ie the 'substitute' person).
 

1. I ♥ Huckabees
2. Pretty much the whole film, but especially the conversations between the Dustin Hoffman and Anjelica Huston characters.
3. ACT Principles: Live a rich, meaningful life and what has experiential avoidance cost you?

1. Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade
2. 3 hexaflex points
3. When Indiana is just about to get to the holy grail, he finds himself stuck at the edge of a seemingly bottomless chasm. He reads a riddle that suggests that the only way to get across the chasm is to take a leap of faith. So he steps out into mid air, seemingly to fall to his death. Instead, he finds that there is actually a hidden bridge that was built to blend seemlessly into the backdrop of the chasm and his step lands on terra firma. Whew!
4. The scene illustrates committed action, in that Indiana takes a step towards his quest even when unsure of the outcome. It illustrates willingness/acceptance in that the move is leap of faith, requiring him to make room for his fear. And it illustrates defusion in that while his mind tells him he is going to fall to his death, he is willing to suspend that judgment, and when he actually steps out into a seeming void, he finds that this was an illusion.

Inside Out - Disney/Pixar

It's hard to isolate any particular ACT relevant scenes - the whole movie was an animated version of ACT come to life!  Essentially, Riley (11 year old girl) has to learn to live with a new life that her parents have chosen, leaving her old, highly valued life behind.  She has 4 emotions controlling her from inside her brain - Joy (the dominant emotion up to this point), Sadness, Anger and Disgust. 

Due to the new experiences of distress, loneliness, disappointment and anger, Riley starts to experince 'negative' emotions for the first time and Joy has huge problems accepting this.  She fights desperately and valiantly to prevent Riley experiencing Sadness, but eventually learns to accept that Sadness is a valid emotion and has a useful part to play.  Riley is eventually able to include Sadness, for the old friends and life she has left behind, while building a new life in her new town, heading back towards her values. 

Plus, it's really sweet, funny and engaging. 

It’s a wonderful life: ACT processes

1. Contact with the present moment (and lack of): This I think is illustrated through George’s suicide attempt. He believes he has lost the money from the Building and Loan and that he his a failure and that now Potter will win (and it will be his fault). Such is George’s sense of dejection and impending rejection by the towns people that he attempts to escape by jumping from the bridge. Not only does George not want to be in contact with the present moment, but he wants to have never been born at al.

Georges decision at the end of the movie to have his life back demonstrates this beautifully I think. Before he realises the towns people have all come to help him out he takes his life back and contacts the present moment (which at that point is one of uncertainty over the missing money). He allows himself to be present and open to their criticism and the consequences of losing the money to find their love, help and support instead

2. Acceptance: This is perhaps demonstrated by George’s desire to keep living with the uncertain consequences he faces. I think the key message George takes from Clarence is that it is that upsetting things happen AND it's a wonderful life.

3. Defusion/fusion. Not explicit, but George does not explicitly decide that he has not let the towns people down, it is possible that he stills feels this way, but he has defused from it enough to allow himself to be present with the towns people and the consequences of losing the money.

4. Values: George values helping the town people. He values his family, he values making the town a better place and protecting it from exploitation from Potter

5. Commitment: In the movie, George not only values his values but is actively committed to not letting Potter exploit the town for his own financial gain. His actions are focused on changing the physical (i.e. fighting against Potter- a workable change agenda)

6. Self-as-context: not sure about this one, might there be a sixth process hiding in the movie somehwere

This is a great documentary film about someone who's fed up with the fake gurus in India, and decides to dress up as a guru and start a mini cult in the US, to prove that anyone can pretend to be a guru and get a cult following.

Has anyone else seen it? I think it's brilliant!

1. Present moment - Kumare does teach people meditation, but it's a fake version, and people start getting the experiencing he's suggesting, so maybe not.

2. Acceptance/Willingness - Interestingly some of his 'followers' full accept him and his 'teachings'. And this shows the danger of gurus.

3. Defusion - Through his teachings, people defuse from their own limiting beliefs, but then they fuse with his beliefs. So this is a great teaching about the danger of fusing from one idea to another.

4. Observer Self - Not touched upon much

5. Values - I'm impressed by the values of the director, to seek the truth

5. Commited Action - The actions of the director/main actor and also how he followed through with what he believed, right through to the end - PS - it's a brilliant ending!

Here's the IMDB link with trailer: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1865425/ 

1. Moonstruck 
2.  Fusion (with rules) 
3. Right from beginning to end, ths movie is so filled with just about every character following rules that clearly are so restrictive on their lives. This makes the movie very funny, enjoyable and accessible, yet incredibly profound. The huge exception to this when the character played by Nicholoas Cage tells a confused woman (Cher) something like "Life is not a storybook, that you can look up to see what to do next. Love is about destroying life ... ..."
4. In the context of the movie, these audacious words, just hit out, with an irresistable invitation to vitality - a vivid contrast to following rules blindly (fusion) without any reference to values. The mother with her more philosophical approach would seem to be a contrast to blind rule following, however this is at the cost of avoiding strong emotions (and whatever actions) at her husbands behaviours.

1. My Life Without Me (2003)
2. It’s a beautiful movie of a young woman, Ann. Mother of 2 little kids, living a hard life with little future: low job, husband unemployed, poor housing, little money, little support of her family. One day she discovers that she’s seriously ill and has little time to live. This changes her life and way of life radical. She makes a list of things she wants to do and starts doing them, living life to the max. Very good!
3. ACT Principle: Acceptance, Values, Committed Action, Self as context, Mindfulness

I have been using film clips since I was a school counselor and would do in-class interactive social skills lessons. I will bring DVD's into my office and play them for a client on my laptop. One clip I like to use with couples is from the first SPY KIDS film where the mother is telling her kids the story of how she met and married their father. The sequence is beautifully put together in terms of how she and her soon to be husband were spies working on different sides and began dating and hid their connection and then made the commitment. The mother narrates how her commitment to getting married was scarier than any spy mission. The scene of their wedding is a great illustration of commitment and action even in the face of turbulence and threats. Their wedding is interrupted by an attacking helicopter. There is a great shot of the priest holding the Bible while pages are blown out of it by the gusts from the helicopter's blades (challenges to our values and commitment). The last part of the scene that my couples find the most powerful is when the couple is running away and they look into each other's eyes as if telling each other, "I am in this with you no matter what." They then jump off a cliff together and escape into a speeding boat.

Therapeutically, after I show the clip I will invite the client to track in their body to see what was stirred by the images. Film clips are a great way to help clients move from image to sensation and process through fight, flight, and freeze responses.

- Max Stoltenberg, LPC, CHt

In "Song fo the Sea," this child-friendly movie (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgbXWt8kM5Q) provides really great metaphors for: 

(i.) Experiential Avoidance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mUie8Z85iE); 

(ii.) Cost of Avoidance vs. Opening Up (time: ~ 1:01:00 ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPu4etlfCRg). 

It is one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in the past decade! 

I hope you find it interesting and/or useful! :) 

(Submitted by Jonathan Rhodes on April 19, 2024)

The Shawshank Redemption

1.The Shawshank Redemption -pretty much a definitive ACT movie for me! (I recently watched it again within an ACT framework!!)

2. 6 Hexaflex points.

3. As illustrated by:-

CONTACT WITH THE PRESENT MOMENT: Beautifully illustrated in the scene when Andy plays Mozart over the prison and the everybody just stops and listens ( 1 point).

SELF AS CONTEXT: As a punishment for playing the music, Andy is placed into solitary confinement and after his release he tells his fellow convicts that he “had Mr. Mozart to keep me company...[points and taps his head.] It was in here …[gestures over his heart] and in here. That's the beauty of music. They can't get that from you. Haven't you ever felt that way about music?” Red (Morgan Freeman)says that he played the Harmonica as a young man, but lost interest in it and that it didn’t make much sense playing it in prison – Andy says “No, here's where it makes the most sense. You need it so you don't forget”. “Forget?” asks Red, “That there are places in the world that aren't made out of stone. That there's... there's somethin' inside that they can't get to; that they can't touch. It's yours” says Andy (self as context / pure awareness – 1 point).

DEFUSION:Fusion is illustrated when Red says “I’ve been in here most of my life. I’m an institutional man now…just like Brooks was”. Andy replies ““you underestimate yourself” and Red says “I don’t think so” (1 point)

COMMITTED ACTION AND VALUES: Andy talks to Red about his vision of life in a little town in Mexico and life as a free man – he focuses on owning a hotel and a boat (which are goals but I’m sure we could find some values in there somewhere!!) Red (‘passenger on the bus’) says “I don’t think you ought to be doing this to yourself, Andy. I mean mexico is way down there and you’re in here and that’s the way it is”. Andy replies “Yeah right. That’s the way it is. It’s down there and I’m in here. I guess it comes down to a simple choice really…get busy living…or get busy dying”. (highlighting the reality gap between where he is and where he wants to be – within the valued domain of freedom (2 points?)

ACCEPTANCE: Spoiler alert (!) Towards the end of the movie when red is up for parole his rehabilitation officer asks red if he’s been rehabilitated. Red replies “Rehabilitated?... Well, now, let me see. You know, I don't have any idea what that means”. The rehabilitation officer informs Red that it means he is “ready to rejoin society” and Red says “ I know what you think it means, sonny. To me it's just a made-up word. A politician's word, so that young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie and have a job. What do you really wanna know? Am I sorry for what I did? The rehabilitation officer asks “are you?” and Red replies “There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here; or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try to talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that left. I gotta live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So go ahead and stamp your forms, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit (some acceptance in there!? – 1 point)

MORE COMMITTED ACTION: “ I find I'm so excited I can barely sit still or hold a thought in my head (defusion!) I think it is the excitement only a free man can feel, a free man at the start of a long journey whose conclusion is uncertain I hope I can make it across the border (do what it takes!).. I hope to see my friend (values), and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope”
 

1. The Zookeeper - a Ralph Ziman film starring Sam Neill
2. Number of Hexaflex points: 3
3. A moving film set in an unspecified Eastern European country that has a Bosnian like civil war raging, in which a zookeeper, Ludovic (a superb performance by Sam Neill) is haunted by his past, when he wielded power over a local populace. Only after he meets Ankica ( who, with her son, are refugees from the fighting seeking sanctuary in the now all but deserted zoo) who recounts the horrors she has experienced at the hands of someone in that position, does he begin to accept what he has done, allowing him to emotionally thaw out a little. He also hides his feelings for his dead wife, literally in a box hidden away, which is found by Ankica who tells him his feelings are 'beautiful', again allowing him to accept the caring side of himself (toward people) more. There is an interesting portrayal of the (sometimes) subtle difference between running away from our experience & moving toward a valued direction: Ludovic appears to hold the value of being a good person strongly (represented by him being only one of two people willing to stay on & care for the animals when everyone else has left), but Ankica questions whether this is in fact a cover for running away from connectedness with other people, & by extension, himself. Committed action is demonstrated by Ludovic as he begins his emotional thawing & looks after both Ankica & her son, Zioig, as well as his caring for the zoo animals, & toward the end of the film, himself. This is an interesting portrayal of achieving psychological flexibility: he finally agrees to deviate from his rigid pattern of behaviour (staying with the animals) & leave when it is clear that all is lost. He shows anger initially when this course of action is suggested, much like someone holding on to behaviour that is self-defeating but at least familiar.
4. Score: 3/5.

The scene in Three Kings is a post-Desert Storm battle among soldiers.

George Clooney and Spike Jonez are taking cover from the hail of gunfire. Spike's character is afraid of going out and shooting back and the following ensues:

Archie Gates (G.Clooney): You're scared, right?

Conrad Vig (Spike): Maybe.

Archie Gates: The way it works is, you do the thing you're scared shitless of, and you get the courage AFTER you do it, not before you do it.

Conrad Vig: That's a dumbass way to work. It should be the other way around.

Archie Gates: I know. That's the way it works.

- I like this one when talking to 25-39 year old anxious males...Probably not useful for everyone, but I dig it.

1. Walk The Line
2. The June Carter character exemplified committed action in the service of a value that was dear to her. The value I would identify (not verbalized by her in the film), would be something like 'Marriage as a committed friendship' or 'Building intimacy'. Some of the elements of committed action on her part included remaining Johnny's friend when he was at his least likeable, rejecting his excessive and self-destructive behaviors while continuing to love him, even remarrying when she couldn't have Johnny. Mind you, he also exemplified similar committed action in continuing to ask her to marry him despite repeatedly being blocked in achieving the desired outcome :).
3. ACT Principle: Outcome is the Process through which Process Becomes the Outcome

1. Yes Man (2008)
2. The movie is about a man distraught over his girlfriend breaking up with him. He refuses to do anything except stay home and watch videos. His friend drags him to a motivational seminar where the message is "Say YES to Life!" He does and his life changes radically for the better. A very fun romantic comedy with Jim Carrey and Zooey Deschanel.