Depression and Anxiety with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy | Mental Health Webinar

This webinar will explore Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) for depression and anxiety. Learn about including mindfulness, acceptance, values-based living, and self-compassion.

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The Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA), a non-profit organization, leads in education, training, and research for anxiety disorders, depression, PTSD, OCD, and co-occurring disorders. ADAA also provides free evidence-based mental health information and resources to the public.

Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
7:49 What is ACT
21:53 What is Psychological Inflexibility?
23:28 What is Psychological Flexibility?
35:25 What is Engagement?
48:17 Resources and Summary

[Chris-Ian]

This channel is absolute gold. I listen to your lectures every night before I go to bed. I don't know why you have so little views and subs, maybe cause people want a quick fix, like a 5 minute long video that will magically solve their problems.

[albagarcia]

Thank you so much for this rich information about ACT.

[hiyachowdhuri]

I really appreciate this detailed video! I took notes and learned a lot.

[ajmarr]

How resting can increase motivation and wellbeing, a simple behavior analytic procedure from a radical behaviorism (and its not ACT!)
Procedure: Consistent and periodic alternation between a resting protocol (e.g. mindfulness) and the pursuit of meaningful behavior will increase motivation and positive affect (arousal and pleasure).
Explanation: Resting elicits opioid activity, or feels pleasurable, and meaningful behavior, as defined as behavior that has branching novel and positive outcomes (writing that great novel or just making the bed) elicits dopamine activity which causes arousal. The awareness of subsequent meaningful behavior while engaging in relaxation protocols such as mindfulness elicits a ‘priming’ response, namely dopamine release that increases opioid activity, and vice versa, making meaningful behavior seem self-reinforcing or ‘autotelic’.
Although mindfulness reduces discursive thought or mind wandering; it does not inhibit concurrent non-conscious awareness or anticipation of behavior or events subsequent to meditation that can in turn shape or ‘prime’ affective responses during a meditative session. A priming response, like the salivary response that precedes food or the sexual arousal that precedes intimacy, is a preparatory response that often occurs non-consciously, and changes the affective value or ‘feeling’ in the moment. Similarly, relaxing due to ‘being in the moment’ is pleasurable, but if we were told to expect ‘bad’ news or ‘good’ news in the near future, just the awareness of future events is enough to depress or elevate our feelings, but not altering in the slightest our ‘mindful’ or relaxed state. It follows that if mindfulness is paired with the awareness of subsequent positive or meaningful behavior, then rest in mindfulness will have a greater affective tone or ‘feel better’ than if such a prospect was absent. This is perhaps why ‘savoring’, ‘loving kindness’ meditation, and ‘flow’ experiences represent highly pleasurable and arousing experiences that map positive ideation to relaxed states and contrast with a lower level of pleasure during typical states of rest that generally precede a return to meaningless discursive thinking.
The essentials of my argument are on pp.25-28 and pp.45-53 of my linked book on the psychology of rest.