Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is built on the simple notion that language is both wonderful and a trap. It’s wonderful in that it allows humans to communicate and cooperate with each other in infinite ways, leading to tremendous human invention. Language has literally helped take us to the moon and beyond. Language turned inward, however, can be a trap. We humans can get trapped in an endless loop of struggling with our own thoughts, feelings and urges. It is often suggested that we fight off or get rid of troubling mental activity; as if mental matters were some old book that could be trashed or given away.

ACT takes a different approach. Instead of struggling to get rid of or reduce the stuff going on in the brain, we accept it. Why? Because the human mind remembers all. To not think about something is to think about the very thing you did not want to think about. If you don’t want a feeling, then you have the feeling all the more. In other words, struggling to not have the stuff of our minds leads to more struggling, and that can lead to suffering.

Switching from trying to ‘not have’ the stuff of the mind to accepting it is not that hard, it’s just a bit tricky. Because the old “I don’t want my own mental stuff” is always there, it’s easy to fall back into struggling. On the other hand, accepting that your mind generates all kinds of stuff, even very unnecessary unpleasant stuff, is easy to grasp too. There are many exercises in ACT that help us let go of the struggling and move toward accepting the stuff of our minds.

Join Dr. Kevin Polk for this one day workshop introducing participants to the ACT Matrix. ACT strives to get people involved in a process that results in valued living. People clarify who and what’s important to them and then defuse from the thoughts and feelings that can get in the way of leading a full life. The ACT Matrix was developed by Dr. Polk as a simple way of teaching people the ACT process. Participants will learn how to engage others using the ACT Matrix, draw the workability model and invite others to sort and defuse into the ACT Matrix.