ACT: Values
Last Updated on October 2, 2023 by admin
If you’ve been keeping up with our blog posts up until now, you would know that values are one of the most integral parts of acceptance and commitment therapy. Arguably, it could be thought of as the end goal of ACT more generally, as the other core tenets of this type of therapy are ultimately designed to bring you closer to knowing your values so that you can live your life according to them.
The aim of ACT is not to change the thoughts or feelings we are having themselves; the aim is to change the context in which those thoughts and feelings arise. Negative thoughts are only inherently negative if we allow them to take over our behaviour in a self-destructive way, but if our minds are flexible enough to see those thoughts as nothing more than what they are, they lose their power and no longer impact us as negatively as they once did. We can break the habit of avoiding negative thoughts and instead become more mindful of them, and they’ll stop having so much control over us!
Living life this way creates more space for us to live our lives mindfully and according to our deepest values, because we’re not always pre-occupied with fighting off every bad thought that pops into our head. Instead, we can remain calm in the face of threats, and re-focus to the kind of life that we want to lead. To get to this point, there has to be a fundamental belief that you are able to act flexibly in front of any thought or feeling that may arise.
All it takes is some practice! By deliberately exposing ourselves to difficult thoughts and sensations with openness and curiosity, you’ll be able to live out your values and respond in an effective way that makes you feel like you made the right decision for yourself.
Some questions to help understand your deepest-held values are:
– What’s this work in the service of?
– What matters enough that you are willing to do this?
– What values are you living, simply in doing this challenging work?
– 0-10, how in touch with those values are you right now?
When people encounter ACT, the end result is typically a pretty drastic changes, as it has the effect of changing the way people think about and view life. This includes what goes on in a person’s mind as well, for example the nature and purpose of one’s own thoughts and emotions. By having more space to intentionally reflect on such questions, it’s much easier to come to a conclusion about how you want to behave and treat yourself and others, which I truly believe is a cornerstone of living a good and meaningful life.
You detach yourself from unhelpful cognitions, and you develop new and flexible ways of thinking, bringing you closer to the “good life” that we all hope to attain one day.
Understanding our values is the natural precursor to acting out our lives in a way that feels genuinely “me”, so let us make the purposeful effort towards discovering what matters the most to us.