Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a form of psychotherapy that uses basic principles of mindfulness to help people achieve greater happiness and live more effective lives. It has been used to treat depression and anxiety, alleviate stress in the workplace, and aid in the treatment of OCD, substance abuse, and chronic pain.There is evidence that it can improve learning, productivity and creativity.
So, why am I writing about psychotherapy in a blog about writing? Because I believe the core processes of ACT can be applied to many of the challenges and dilemmas of the writing life. Applying the tenets of ACT can help us be better, happier, and more successful writers.
Here is a quick summary of the six fundamental practices of ACT—as I believe they can be applied to writing.
Connecting with what is happening in the present moment. Instead of focusing on what you’re going to get done—with thoughts like I have to get this written. I wonder if this will ever get published. I have so much work ahead of me. Is this any good at all? —be with your writing in the moment. Don’t be constantly evaluating, worrying, or planning. Just write. Simply be writing. This basic mindfulness practice is at the core of many meditation techniques. In addition to being one of the most effective ways of eliminating anxiety and blocks, it is immensely helpful in bringing focus and clarity to our writing.
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Detaching from your thoughts and feelings. Most of us let our thoughts boss us around. We’re so used to judging ourselves, worrying about the future, and feeling frustrated or anxious, that we get all tangled up in those thoughts, so trapped in them that we can’t see our way out. When you detach from your thoughts—a process ACT calls defusion—those thoughts still come to you, but instead of latching on to them, you simply let them come and go. They pass through your mind, but instead of get snagged on them or sucked into them, they move quietly on by.
Opening to pain. Buddhist writer Pema Chodron talks about “sitting in the cave with the demons”—simply being with your negative feelings rather than fighting them, ignoring them, or running from them. ACT teaches a similar approach. Stop battling your fear or anger and just be with it. Let yourself feel afraid, disappointed, frustrated, or sad. Give those feelings some space within you so you can feel them without being overwhelmed by them. When you sit for awhile in the cave with the demons, you stop seeing them as powerful beings who can devour you. They shrink and wither and become surprisingly benign.
Becoming an observer of yourself. One of the most important steps we can take in our progress to be happy and successful writers is to observe our own attitudes, emotions, and ideas. When we learn to step outside of ourselves, we become vividly aware of what is going on in our own minds. We begin to see the way our thoughts and feelings are affecting us. We get to the point where we can say, “There it is again—that memory I keep having of the teacher who humiliated me.” Or, “I know this feeling—it’s the tension that creeps up on me whenever I think of sending a manuscript out.” In this way, the activity of our own minds stops being something that engulfs and overpowers us. This is just a feeling. That is just a thought. We may not be able to stop having them, but we can stop letting them control us.
Values. What do you want to leave behind you in your life? What basic truths guide your behavior? We all have limited time on this planet. What do you want to do with yours? Your values should guide not only your relationships, choices, and actions, but your writing. Identifying your personal truth and allowing it to infuse your work is one of the most important steps you can take to deepen and enrich your writing.
Committed action takes the notion of values one step further. It means aligning your actions—including your writing—with your values even when it is challenging or uncomfortable. In the writing life, committed action means devoting yourself to the lifelong work of writing truthfully, with courage, and with respect for others—and making sure your writing always supports the highest principles of your life.
Taken together these six processes aim for something ACT therapists call psychological flexibility: “contacting the present moment fully as a conscious human being” and “acting on longer term values rather than short term impulses, thoughts and feelings.” (See more by psychologist Steven Hayes).
Imagine what can happen to our writing lives if we learn to be fully conscious of our work and to be guided in it by overarching values instead of the emotion we happen to be having at the moment.
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