The content of the illustrations are as follows: 

(A) Illustrates some of the problems engendered by control/avoidance/non-acceptance 

(B) Compares and contrasts the medical model vs. the ACT model of psychopathology (including the importance of distinguishing means vs. ends in psychotherapy) 

(C) A chart containing multiple examples comparing the behaviorist model vs. cognitive model of causation (i.e., do thoughts really cause behaviors?) 

(D) A visual depiction of cognitive defusion 

(E) Some illustrations that speak to the approach-avoidance conflict associated with willingness

Hi all,

For our Time to ACT! book an illustrator made +50 illustrations for several ACT-exercises and Metaphors (for all ACT-components). Below you will find a link to these illustrations; they are
distributed under the creative commons licence CC-BY-NC; which means that they can be used for free if correctly cited and are not used for commercial purposes.

https://www.actinactie.nl/time-to-act-illustraties/

Warm regards,

Tim Batink

I use this cards to work with values. Usually we write short sentence with the chosen direction in the back side, so the client can carry the card around.

Hexaflex image in a word document. Can be "ungrouped" and modified for use. This is a hexaflex (Hexagon Model of Psychological Flexibility) image that I generated in Word based on the image found in the Practical Guide. It took FOREVER, so I figured it might be worth posting. It IS modifiable if you right or control click and "Ungroup" into the shapes and text boxes I used to make it. Hope this is useful to someone! --- note added later by Steve Hayes: I've also posted two images that can be placed into documents. One is the Hexaflex model, and a related model of psychopathology. These are MS office "png" images but are not modifiable (the originals are in CorelDraw). By the way, we deliberately placed these Hexaflex images in multiple places -- including the list serve -- so that no copyright would be enforcable on them by publishers. If you need a citation, however, an easy one is Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J., Bond, F., Masuda, A., and Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, processes, and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44, 1-25.

I use these 2 diagrams to teach clients re how they can train healthier brain pathways through regular practice of mindfulness exercises, as discovered by recent neuroscience research.  I usually give them to clients as a single A4 handout, with one of the diagrams on the each side of the sheet.

Functional Diagram of the Brain - BEFORE Mindfulness Training

As a result of our Western-style education system, the thinking centres of the brain (memory, imagination, planning, logic, problem-solving) are highly developed, but the attentional centre (i.e. the prefrontal cortex and its various connections, "the CPU of the computer") is relatively underdeveloped, and the emotional centres are relatively poorly regulated.

As a result, clients can easily get caught in dysfunctional "brain loops" - e.g. a loop between the imagination, emotion and planning centres of the brain results in worry/anxiety ; a loop between the memory, emotion and imagination centre can result in depressive ruminations).  The attention centre is often not strong enough to interrupt the loop and redirect attention elsewhere.

Functional Diagram of the Brain - AFTER Mindfulness Training

8-12 weeks of regular practice of mindfulness exercises results in increased size and strength of the "CPU" and its connections (presented in a rather exaggerated fashion in the diagram!) and some decrease in size of the emotion centre (more specifically, the amygdala which is the source of most of our 'unpleasant' emotions).

As a result, when the client notices she is starting to worry or ruminate, she can use her strengthened attention centre to break the loop and redirect attention in more workable directions e.g. committed action based on values.

The 5 small pictures on the right represent the 5 senses (i.e. the 'inputs to the computer') and the 2 pictures on the left represent the 2 main outputs , i.e. action and speech.

Submitted by Dr Kingsley Mudd MBBS, BMedSci, FRACGP, Townsville, Qld, Australia

(The attachments below are only viewable and downloadable for current, paid ACBS members.)

This is a visual metaphor/worksheet based on the ancient Hindu and Buddhist metaphor of the lotus flower.

I think it is fairly self-explanatory.  I find it particularly useful for highlighting the fact that our painful thoughts/feeling are inextricably linked with our values and goals, and our pain must therefore be embraced if we are to create a rich, full and meangful life.  The swamp mud provides the nutrients and fertiliser from which the lotus arises.  In the same way, you can't have love without pain, courage without fear, creativity without some contact with "the dark side", and so on. 

You can't have the beautiful, pristine, magnificent lotus flower if you don't have the dark, murky, filthy mud of the swamp underneath!!!

Submitted by Dr Kingsley Mudd MBBS FRACGP, Family Physician, Townsville, Qld, Australia

A set of cards, each presenting a typically encountered thought. The majority are 'unhelpful', with a few more 'helpful' ones thrown in to break up the task. Useful for when a client is so fused they can't actually verbalise what they are thinking - they can flip through and choose the thoughts they recognise. Original artwork helps each thought stand out. Instructions/suggestions for use are provided too.

Available to download and print from our website:

http://www.actonpurpose.com.au

For a couple of years now I have been training adolescent values by using printed cards to facilitate conversations.

I had been trying to have them published professionally, with the hope of donating any profits to charity; however, my attempts at finding a publisher who could produce them for a reasonable cost have failed (other types of kids counselling cards are around $50 AUS).

So, I decided to make them free, by creating them without the professional graphics and posting them for free.
With Lisa Coyne's help they are now ready and available on ACBS.

You can find them here - https://contextualscience.org/louise_hayes_training_page

ACT folks tell me that the physical properties of having about 10 cards laid out on the desk seems to take the pressure off young people when talking of values. They get some choice in the conversation, and they can focus on the cards rather than the therapist. Somehow it seems to facilitate values dialogue. And the most useful values discussions often come from unexpected questions, like my personal favourite, "do you prefer blending in or standing out?"

I have had pretty good feedback from people who have attended my training that they work well in the clinic with young people as well as adults.
I hope they are useful.

You just need to download them and have them printed and cut up by a print shop.

kind regards, Louise