Goal-setting is a popular thing; plug it into Google search, and there are billions of hits. But is goal-setting always the best approach? Maybe identifying and heading in valued directions can be a good alternative some of the time, especially if something like mental illness is making the whole goals thing difficult. Valued directions in …
Values play a key role in acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), a psychotherapeutic approach that aims to increase psychological flexibility. ACT emphasizes acceptance rather than resistance, and the “commitment” part of the name comes from taking committed actions in service of our values. Values as directions We live in a very goal-oriented world. Goals serve …
The Role of Values in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Read More »
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is moralization. The term moralization was introduced by psychologist Paul Rozin in the late 1990s to describe the process by which people’s preferences are transformed into values. Rozin’s research looked at how, for some people, vegetarianism had become …
What Is… Moralization: When Preferences Become Values Read More »
We all have a mix of many different factors that shape our worldview. I thought I’d tell you some of mine and hopefully, you’ll tell me some of yours. Growing up Education was highly valued in my family. My parents also believed in being very careful with money and not spending money you didn’t have …
“Am I a bad person?” It seems to be a fairly common question. Searching for that question on Google yields 263 million hits. I’ve also seen it raised in the blogosphere. Regardless of what the answer may or may not seem to be, though, is it a valid and/or useful question? What exactly is a …
Am I a Bad Person? Or Is That the Wrong Question? Read More »
In this series, I dig a little deeper into the meaning of psychology-related terms. This week’s term is consumer culture. Caramel (Learner at Love) mentioned in a recent post that she’d seen pictures of luxury vehicles accessing food banks. It got me thinking about the pressures to consume newer, bigger, shinier things, and how some …
We all have a variety of different characteristics and things floating around in our heads. But when you dig down deep to the core, what is it that makes you, you? I think a major part of the foundation of who we are is the sum of our entire life experiences. No one else has had …
Escaping the Emotional Roller Coaster by Dr. Patricia Zurita Ona draws upon acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) techniques to help “super-feelers” work with their emotions more effectively. What is a super-feeler? It’s someone who struggles with emotional regulation, meaning they experience intense emotions and strong emotional reactions. The book focuses on emotional sensitivity; this is …
Book Review: Escaping the Emotional Roller Coaster Read More »
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a type of psychotherapy that takes the stance that avoidance and resistance to internal experiences identified as negative is what causes cognitive distress. To resolve distress, ACT suggests that we need to employ strategies like mindfulness, de-fusion from our thoughts, and recognizing the self as the context in which …
The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F*ck by Mark Manson claims to provide “a counterintuitive approach to living a good life.” He wrote this book in reaction to the problems he saw in the self-help industry. His own background is as a blogger; there’s no indication that he has a background in psychology or …
Book Review: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Read More »
