ACT in Chicago

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one of the psychotherapies that has enthusiastically incorporated mindfulness practices. ACT asserts that problems like anxiety develop as a result of experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion. Experiential avoidance is easy to observe in our everyday lives - we tend to distract ourselves and turn away from difficult feelings and situations. ACT suggests that this strategy causes many more problems than it solves, and recommends developing the ability to stay with problematic experiences with mindfulness and compassion for ourselves. ACT also highlights the problems that come from cognitive fusion, which is our tendency to confuse our thoughts about something with the true nature of that thing. This fundamental confusion is addressed by the "third foundation of mindfulness," mindfulness of the mind as the mind.

This Spring, there will be two opportunities to study ACT in Chicago:

Steven Hayes, the originator of ACT, will be featured in the Sunday program of the Summit Institute in Chicago, April 13, 2008. Follow the link to the conference brochure.

The ACT Summer Institute will be held in Chicago this year, with pre-conference workshops starting on May 26 and the general conference on May 28 - 30.