It has several functions but the bottom line is that it is the whole ACT model in one exercise Because it is uncomfortable but not dangerous it is a great context in which to practice defusion and acceptance. Its social nature heightens that part of it, since outright avoidance is relatively unlikely once people agree to do it. You can use psychological contact with the other as a metric of being present, so it gives feedback on the costs of fusion and avoidance. When these processes interfere the other person disappears Because self-as-context is social in origin, if the person running the exercise orients the participants to it you can contact the deictic basis of consciousness. The other person becomes somehow connected to you -- and yet you yourself contact a sense of transcendence in that social connection Because almost everyone values people, if you ask folks to use this as a physical metaphor for connection with others, it puts the mindfulness work (the work on acceptance, defusion, self, and the present) into a values context. You see how these processes support valued actions. It is a commitment exercise because you get agreement before hand; and again the social nature of it helps maintain the commitment And it is an exercise in psychological flexibility because it brings all of the other processes together in an unusual and repertoire expanding action It is the whole model in 10 minutes - Steve Hayes
