Language changes everything. From infancy through adulthood, language influences and dominates our sense of self, our choices, our opportunities, our relationships, our communities, our societies - the cultures that shape us all. Language is an inescapable part of what makes us human, what allows for us to act with meaning and purpose and also what brings us suffering. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and relational frame theory (RFT) offer a lens for viewing psychological flexibility and prosociality as key language repertoires at the heart of what we as contextual behaviour scientists do. As such, a comprehensive understanding of complex language and the increasingly complex web of interlocking contingencies that influence every one of us, is critical to the effectiveness in our work. Understanding and using complex language processes is integral to building the bridges that allow us to work effectively with others and impact the world. In short, our words matter.
About this workshop
In this workshop, Dr. Siri Ming presents a view of ACT as fundamentally being the promotion of psychological flexibility within cooperative contexts for behaviour change, and requiring functional analyses at all levels from the self to systems. She will show how, when conceptualising cases, we need to consider how behaviour operates within interlocking contingencies from the self (including biological/medical factors as well as our own “selfing” behaviour and considering ourselves within the analysis) up through the groups, systems and cultures within which we all operate. She will also discuss how we we need to do so with an understanding of the language repertoires involved that both support and hinder psychological flexibility.
This workshop, Siri will link common ACT tools and frameworks to basic behaviour analytic principles and a conceptually systematic, RFT-based definition of psychological flexibility. She will use a principles-based approach to defining psychological flexibility which then supports the identification and consideration of multiple related repertoires at different levels of development, and a range of potential interventions. Most importantly, she will show how viewing ACT as a framework for promoting psychological flexibility, rather than as a set of techniques or procedures, allows for an individualised, culturally responsive, functional approach to intervention.
Who is this workshop for?
This workshop is for clinicians, practitioners, BCBAs, UKBA (Cert)s, and therapists who work therapeutically with clients and who want to deepen their understanding of the clinical applications of RFT