In this paper we will present a systematic and comprehensive review of the Relational Frame Theory work on deictic framing from the publication of Making sense of spirituality (Hayes, 1984) to date. Our summary of the literature on deictic framing will include theoretical and conceptual chapters and papers, and all the published and non published empirical studies. In this review we will summarize the theoretical rationale behind deictic framing, the range of complex phenomena that according to RFT, this behavioral process might account for, the results of empirical studies, the methodological strategies that have been used, their clinical and non clinical target populations, and finally, the inconsistencies and problems of this current line of research. Overall, we will show the steps that have been taken towards the building of a programmatic line of research in that field, and how it coheres with the contextual behavioral science approach.

Abstract: Frederick Nietzsche’s writings have been widely influential and extensively interpreted; his philosophy has been almost exclusively seen through the lenses of humanistic and philosophical disciplines and usually taken to support controversial worldviews. In this paper, it is not our intent to provide the “right” version of this philosopher’s thinking, but rather, to explore some connections that might be relevant from a Radical Behavioral viewpoint. Our purpose then, is twofold: first, we will explore the connections of his philosophy with the materialistic and pragmatic assumptions of the natural sciences, and second, we will present some of his considerations regarding the attribution of causality for private events and its compatibility with Behavioral analytical thinking. Clinical implications are commented. 

Keywords: Nietzsche, Radical Behaviorism, natural sciences, private events, epistemology, ontology, psychotherapy.

Abstract: According to Relational Frame Theory, deictic frames are a class of derived relational responses defined by their dependence on the perspective of the speaker. This concept was introduced by Hayes (1984) in the article “Making Sense of Spirituality,” which laid the conceptual foundation for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Some of the implications of deictic frames connect to various Mindfulness traditions, such as Buddhism, and therapeutic models like Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. In this paper we will re-explore the behavioral analytical interpretation of this psychological process and provide some clinical insights based on this interpretation. 

Keywords: Relational Frame Theory, deictic frames, mindfulness, clinical applications

A previous study performed in our laboratory showed significant baseline correlations between performance in a deictic framing task and an empathy questionnaire (IRI; Davis, 1984) in a sample of college students (n=58). The study was designed to address the potential role of deictic framing in the enhancement of empathic concern towards individuals belonging to an ethnic minority. Results also indicated that a deictic framing manipulation produced increased levels of empathic concern but those levels of connection faded over time. In this paper, we will present data from a second study that will test the same rationale but using an automated procedure to avoid for demand characteristics of the experimenter. This new procedure incorporates (1) a larger pool of trials, (2) equal number of trials for the three types of deictic framing and their levels of complexity, (3) systematic variations of trial content, and (4) collection of fluency data. In addition, we created an automated delay discounting assessment task that serves as an analog of social bonding. Results will be discussed in terms of the larger implications of this line of research for the enhancement of social interactions in normal adults.

Attached is a Flash presentation I created using a product called Articulate Presenter. In this audio powerpoint we reproduced a presentation that was given in Boston, MA in June 2010.

In order to see the audio powerpoint you need to:
1)  Save the attached Zip file to your computer.
2)  Extract the Zip file.  (Unzip it.)
3)  Double-click on the player.html file.

Abstract: Social anhedonia has been linked to the development and exacerbation of psychosis.  In this paper we explored empirically the hypothesis that social anhedonia can be accounted for by deictic relational responding, empathic concern, and experiential avoidance as suggested by Relational Frame Theory (RFT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).  College students (N=110) from the University of Deusto in Spain completed self-report measures of social anhedonia, empathy and experiential avoidance.  Deictic relational responding was measured by performance in a behavioral task.  Sequential multiple regressions indicated that deictic relational responding, empathy and experiential avoidance are independent predictors of social anhedonia, accounting for 26% of the total variance, having minimal overlap among each other.  The data supports the utility of these processes as predictors of social anhedonia, suggesting new psychological targets for the prevention and treatment of psychosis.

The term functional contextualism has been polemic within the behavioral analytic tradition from its inception. It’s been argued that it adds nothing to that tradition, since it is no more than a way to refer to radical behaviorism, and therefore it is old wine in new bottle. Conversely, what was new and “radical” from radical behaviorism was the reflection of behavioral thinking onto the actions of scientists, but other aspects of that tradition had been there for a long time, such as attention to the organism as a whole, an emphasis on function rather than topography, and the critical role given to history and current environment. Those components were part of previous traditions (e.g., Darwin, Pierce, Dewey and James) and were not necessarily advanced by Skinner. We argue in this paper, that (1) the term functional contextualism is a better term than radical behaviorism to describe our tradition and (2), that the philosophical assumptions ingrained in functional contextualism allow greater methodological diversity and consequently increased chances to strengthen our body of knowledge in the field. Overall, we believe that the term functional contextualism links back our field to its original roots, and orients our work towards the building of a more progressive science.

The original title is: “Una propuesta radicalmente conductista y pragmática para predecir y controlar los eventos privados”. This is the ppt (in Spanish) that I made and used to give an introductory 3-hours class about Functional Contextualism (April 23rd) as part of the training in third-wave behavior therapies organized for Juan Pablo Colletti in Buenos Aires - Argentina (2012). The presentation doesn't have many words so it's not so hard to translate it if you are interested in using it. Anyway, I'll try to do it soon.

This ppt presentation is organized as a creative hopelessness session applied to scientific behavior because my objective was to sensibilize attendants to what they value as therapists/scientists, what they actually do and what is the proposal of functional contextualism, so they can assume this view of science if they value it.

This presentation should be complemented with a doc that is still in process. In that document, there are all the terms and figures which were explained verbally during the conference but now they are put by written, so attendants can read them after the class/conference. I hope I upload it soon.

I recommend to use power point 2010 version so the slides won't loss their configuration.

You can find more references in my blog (in Spanish, but with a google translate tool).

I am attaching the God is a Verb talk that I gave at World Con I. Many of you have seen and/or heard it before. However, given the response to this thread, I thought it might be useful to post. For those of you who already have it, it is the same. I have not changed anything since I presented it - no need to view and/or save it again :0)

I think that the notes at the bottom do help explain the slides and set the context for viewing them, so you probably will want to read those too.

The negative impact of stigma and prejudice on society is vast, affecting countless numbers of groups. Most known interventions targeting human objectification, such as the Contact Hypothesis and the Multicultural approach, generally highlight different aspects of the social context. Contact hypotheses emphasize contingencies in the environment, whereas educational approaches highlight more verbal processes. However, neither approach has adequately explained the psychological processes underlying the phenomena of stigmatization. In this paper we will present an account of stigma and prejudice from Relational Frame Theory (RFT). As part of the Functional Contextualism tradition, RFT emphasizes the aims of precision, scope and depth and thus may provide a more adequate approach to analyzing human objectification in a way that will lead to both prediction and influence. This presentation will argue that language is at the root of this problem, and that human's capacity to derive arbitrary relations among events, fosters human objectification in ways that overcome previous attempts to reduce it. We will end by briefly reviewing recent basic and applied research relating to this RFT account as well as their implications for reducing the phenomena of human objectification.

Symposium at the BABCP National Conference, July 2010, Manchester UK.

This symposium highlights recent UK research in mindfulness and acceptance-based interventions for psychosis. 

Convenor: Joe Oliver, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Chair: Eric Morris, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust

Does self-stigma mediate the effect of mindfulness on social functioning in a First Episode Psychosis sample?

Lucy Mersh, Salomons, Canterbury Christchurch University,

Fergal Jones, Salomons, Canterbury Christchurch University &

Joe Oliver, South London & Maudsley NHS Trust

Luoma et al (2007) describe self stigma as ‘shame, evaluative thoughts, and fear of enacted stigma that results from individuals’ identification with a stigmatised group that serves as a barrier to the pursuit of valued life goals’. Self-stigma has been linked to loss of self-esteem (Wahl, 1999), self-efficacy (Corrigan & Watson, 2002), poor adherence to treatment plans (Sirey et al., 2001) and reduction of the pursuit of employment and independent living (Link, 1982). If an individual accepts stigma their identity may become dominated by their illness (Lally 1989). It has been proposed that the experience of engulfment is especially overwhelming for people experiencing first episode psychosis as they are often also grappling with the challenges of young adulthood.

Research into the reduction of self-stigma has until recently focused on the use of psycho-education and CBT, finding limited success for both interventions (e.g. Alvidrez, Snowden, Rao &and Boccellarialso, 2008; MacInnes & Lewis, 2007). Recently a small amount of research has looked at Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to reduce self stigma in substance misuse and obesity. From an ACT perspective the negative effects of self-stigma occur when an individual becomes entangled in their negative self-stigmatising thoughts and emotionally reacts to them. It could be hypothesized that the mindfulness component of ACT would allow individuals to step back from their thoughts and thus be less likely to self-stigmatise. This study explored the relationship between self-stigma and mindfulness, hypothesizing that individuals who were more mindful would be less likely to self-stigmatise and therefore would have higher social functioning. It was also hypothesised that this relationship would be independent of symptom severity. Four standardized measures for self-stigma, mindfulness, social functioning and symptom severity were employed. At the time of writing thirty three participants experiencing first episode psychosis had been recruited. At completion data from forty participants will be analysed using a regression analysis and clinical implications of findings discussed.

Psychological Flexibility and well-being in First Episode Psychosis

Emma O’Donoghue, Royal Holloway, University of London,

Eric Morris, South London & Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust &

Michael Evangeli, Royal Holloway, University of London

Psychological inflexibility is ‘the phenomenon that occurs when one is unwilling to experience particular negative internal experiences and attempts to alter them accordingly’. The concept of psychological flexibility underpins recent empirically derived approaches to psychological intervention (e.g. Mindfulness and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). These approaches have been found to improve psychological functioning and alleviate a variety of mental health problems including chronic pain, generalised anxiety disorder and depression. Recent research has begun to focus on the usefulness of these interventions with individuals experiencing psychosis and has identified benefits such as improved social impairment and reduction of distress associated with psychotic symptoms. This is a relatively new focus in the treatment of psychosis and to date, no published research has explored these interventions or the concept of psychological flexibility in individuals experiencing first episode of psychosis. These individuals have a high risk of relapse, comorbid symptoms, suicidality when compared with normal controls. Research also indicates that the experience of negative intrusive cognitions, such as positive psychotic symptoms, can have profound implications for an individual’s well-being, social functioning and satisfaction with life. Therefore, further research into effective psychological interventions for this group is warranted. This study explored the mediating effect of psychological flexibility on well-being and social functioning in response to experiencing negative intrusive cognitions (psychotic and non-psychotic) in a sample of individuals experiencing a first episode of psychosis. A purposive sample of forty two individuals (male – 28: female - 14), aged between 18 and 33 years, who were currently being treated for a first episode psychosis completed standardised measures of these constructs. The clinical research implications of these results will be discussed.

Person-based cognitive therapy groups for distressing voices: An evaluation

Laura Dannahy, Hampshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust,

Clara Strauss, Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust &

Wendy Turton, School of Psychology, University of Southampton

Recent randomised controlled trials of group CBT for psychosis have yielded disappointing results (Barrowclough et al, 2006; Wykes et al, 2005). For this reason, there is increasing interest in the potential benefits of third wave cognitive therapies for psychosis. Person-based cognitive therapy for distressing voices (PBCT; Chadwick, 2006) integrates traditional cognitive therapy with a third wave acceptance based approach, including use of formal mindfulness meditation. By integrating the two in a meaningful way the potential benefits of both approaches are made available to participants. In this presentation outcomes of nine PBCT groups, involving 62 participants, are presented (Dannahy et al, submitted). Following the therapy groups there were significant improvements in psychosocial well-being as well as on measures of voice distress and voice control and these improvements were maintained at a one month follow up. Findings will be discussed in relation the interface between second wave and third wave cognitive therapies and the next step in evaluating PBCT groups for distressing voices will be presented.

References

Chadwick, P. (2006). Person-Based Cognitive Therapy for Distressing Psychosis. Chichester: Wiley

Dannahy, L., Hayward, M., Strauss, C., Turton, W., Harding, E. & Chadwick, P. (2010). Group Person-Based Cognitive Therapy for distressing voices: Pilot data from nine groups. Manuscript submitted to Behaviour Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry.

Predicting Changes in Delusional Ideation: The Role of Mindfulness & Negative Schemas

Joe Oliver, South London & Maudsley NHS Trust, London,

Kennedy McLachlan, Open Polytechnic, New Zealand,

Emmanuelle Peters, Institute of Psychiatry, London &

Paul Jose, Victoria University, New Zealand

Traditional definitions of delusions have described them as discrete entities that exist only within the population of the seriously mentally ill. This definition has been forced into reconsideration as evidence has accumulated to strongly suggest that delusions are in fact multi-dimensional and exist widely in the general population (Bentall & Slade, 1985; Cox & Cowling, 1989; Johns & van Os, 2001; Romme, Honig, Noorthoorn & Escher, 1992). Research demonstrating that normal populations report sub-clinical level delusional ideation was further evidence of a continuum, but also pointed to the possibility that clinical and non-clinical ideation were functionally related.

Several streams of research have suggested that non-clinical levels of delusional ideation are linked to later development of clinically significant delusions (e.g. Krabbendam & van Os, 2005; Poulton, et al. 2000; van Os, Hanssen, Bijl & Ravelli, 2000). A better understanding of factors that worsen non-clinical delusional thinking may provide insight into the aetiological underpinnings and developmental processes involved in clinical symptoms. Two potential factors are negative schemas and psychological inflexibility. This study used a longitudinal design to explore the impact of mindfulness and negative schemas on changes in delusional ideation over time in a sample of 204 college students. Using structural equation modelling, the results indicated that the effect of negative schemas on changes in specifically delusional distress was mediated by mindfulness. Clinical and research implications of these results will be discussed.

There is empirical evidence pointing to how children's ability to take perspective can be improved by training deictic distinctions (Weil, in press), and to its beneficial effects among children within the Autistic Spectrum Disorder (Rehfeldt, 2007). But there are few studies where deictic framing procedures have been used for non-clinical purposes. Previous research out of the behavioral analytical tradition indicates that perspective-taking instructions can induce empathy towards ethnic minorities (Vescio et al., 2003), which suggests that deictic relations might play an important role in the context of human objectification and their counterparts of empathy and compassion. In the present study we will examine the impact of deictic framing in the reduction of stigmatized attitudes towards ethnic minorities and we will discuss some of the underpinnings of developing such a training procedure for normally developed adults.

Presentation delivered to the Missouri Association for Behavior Analysis (MOABA) conference on Nov. 2, 2007. Spoken as a word, "MOABA" is a lot of fun to say.

Abstract: Studies of stress and burnout are becoming increasingly relevant because of their demonstrated relationship to lost productivity and turnover in the workplace. Psychological variables are especially relevant within work settings where resources are limited and time demands are high. For this reason, it is important to develop assessment procedures for the identification of process measures related to these outcomes. The current studies examine the relationship between values-consistent living (as measured by the Personal Values Questionnaire) and various psychological outcomes, including stress, burnout, depression, anxiety and general health, within different professional settings. The first study examines the role of values-consistent living as it relates to stress and burnout within substance abuse counselors. Pearson Correlations suggest that greater values-consistent living is correlated with lower levels of burnout and higher levels of accomplishment and mental health functioning (p<.05). The second study examines the role of values-consistent living in respect to psychological outcomes within the staff of the Washoe County School District (p<.05). Results again suggest that greater values-consistent living is negatively related to depression, anxiety, stress and burnout, and positively related to overall health. Future research should investigate the outcomes of treatment interventions implemented to target these processes.