"In all my years studying personal growth, Acceptance and Commitment
Therapy is one of the most useful tools I've ever come across, and in
this book, Dr. Hayes describes it with more depth and clarity than ever
before."-Mark Manson, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The
Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
Life is not a problem to be solved. ACT shows how we can live full and
meaningful lives by embracing our vulnerability and turning toward what
hurts.
In this landmark book, the originator and pioneering researcher into
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) lays out the psychological
flexibility skills that make it one of the most powerful approaches
research has yet to offer. These skills have been shown to help even
where other approaches have failed. Science shows that they are useful
in virtually every area--mental health (anxiety, depression, substance
abuse, eating disorders, PTSD); physical health (chronic pain, dealing
with diabetes, facing cancer); social processes (relationship issues,
prejudice, stigma, domestic violence); and performance (sports,
business, diet, exercise).
How does psychological flexibility help? We struggle because the
problem-solving mind tells us to run from what causes us fear and hurt.
But we hurt where we care. If we run from a sense of vulnerability, we
must also run from what we care about. By learning how to liberate
ourselves, we can live with meaning and purpose, along with our pain
when there is pain.
Although that is a simple idea, it resists our instincts and
programming. The flexibility skills counter those ingrained tendencies.
They include noticing our thoughts with curiosity, opening to our
emotions, attending to what is in the present, learning the art of
perspective taking, discovering our deepest values, and building habits
based around what we deeply want.
Beginning with the epiphany Steven Hayes had during a panic attack, this
book is a powerful narrative of scientific discovery filled with moving
stories as well as advice for how we can put flexibility skills to work
immediately. Hayes shows how allowing ourselves to feel fully and think
freely moves us toward commitment to what truly matters to us. Finally,
we can live lives that reflect the qualities we choose.
