In the current panorama of psychology, more and more, a type of therapies called Therapies Third Generation or Contextual Therapies as the Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), the Dialectical Therapy, the Metacognitia Therapy, or Functional Analytical Psychotherapy (FAP).
Some of these therapies may be complementary to each other, and most include the Mindfulness as a support tool.
They are the therapies that try to directly address the symptom with special attention to the manifest behavior. These are the first behavioral therapies as a result of the behavioral contributions of the first half of the 20th century, such as the Classical conditioning by Pavlov and Operant conditioning by Skinner. This type of therapy has demonstrated its empirical efficacy in a multitude of applications, such as for the treatment of fears and phobias..
In Second Generation Therapies, special emphasis is placed on cognition, that is, on thoughts. An attempt is made to modify the distorted cognitions of the individual that are considered as a determining factor of suffering and psychological discomfort. Due to this increase in cognitions, second generation therapies have become known as Cognitive-Behavioral Therapies.
Third Generation Therapies collect the contributions of the therapies of previous generations under the prism of radical behaviorism. Unlike first-generation therapies, in the latter, more attention is paid to private events such as thoughts.
Although the treatment given to thoughts is different from that of second generation therapies, since in third wave therapies the content of thoughts is not necessarily considered as the factor responsible for the maintenance of suffering and psychological discomfort, but the relationship we have with our own thoughts.
One of the psychological therapies that is currently obtaining the most empirical evidence, that is, that has the greatest scientific endorsement, is the Acceptance and commitment therapy.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a type of intervention oriented to psychological acceptance of private events, that is, of thoughts, emotions and sensations.
The fulcrum for this acceptance is the commitment to values. In addition, radical behaviorism explains why the fight against thoughts and feelings can be counterproductive to get rid of them in the long term. Therefore, it is not about accepting anything, but it is about accepting private events and committing ourselves to our vital values..
This therapy is also known by its acronym ACT (of English Acceptance and Commitment Therapy). In addition, the use of these acronyms is not limited to a matter of economy of language, but they also serve to give us an idea of one of the basic principles of therapy: ACT.
Acceptance
ACT uses the concept of Acceptance as the human ability to consciously experience the here and now, the sensations, thoughts, feelings, memories and images that the present moment carries. Without clinging to these private events, as one of the causes of the maintenance of the human suffering It is the way that people have to relate to these private events.
Suffering
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy considers that certain types of suffering are an indispensable part of human life. One of the problems is the way in which the culture treats suffering; They commonly tell us that it is normal to feel good all the time and that for this we must avoid suffering.
This is a mistake, since certain levels of discomfort are normal and natural, pain is just another emotion. In addition, trying to avoid pain at all costs can lead us to increase and chronify pain, in addition to distancing ourselves from our values and the life that we consider worth living. One time we accept that life involves suffering in a not only rational way, but we introduce it to a more experiential level, paradoxically it reduces suffering.
Experiential Avoidance Disorder
In a futile attempt to end suffering, many people limit their own lives by avoiding what causes them discomfort. As a consequence of living a limited life, suffering increases. In addition, the avoidance of suffering can function as the maintenance factor of the problem.
"A person trapped in a pattern of avoidance will be immersed in a vicious circle in which, in the presence of discomfort or anguish there is the need to appease such a function ... however the more attempts to solve the problem are made, the more it spreads the problem and more limitations generates in the life of the person. We would be facing a solution that is actually the problem " - Carmen luciano
Cognitive Defusion
The Cognitive Defusion refers to the ability to take a certain perspective in front of our thoughts, instead of being fused with them. Defusion consists of learning to see thoughts for what they are, that is, simple thoughts that cross our mind and disappear.
With ACT Therapy, as in other third generation therapies focused on mindfulness, we learn to take this distance through meditation and other tools and exercises, so that we expand our possibilities of interacting with our private events; by not being fused with thoughts, emotions and sensations, we gain behavioral flexibility.
As is known, the Mindfulness, Being present in the Here and Now, experiencing reality as it happens, can be one of the most appropriate tools to achieve this defusion..
Patients who adjust to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
The Acceptance and commitment therapy It is especially suitable for people who have been fighting their private events for a long time and have not gotten the results they want. In addition, these procedures can also be useful for people who are not trying to overcome a particular problem, but can be taken as a means to enhance the direction towards the life that matters to us..
Author: Acting Psychologist Barcelona
References: "Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) A values-oriented behavioral treatment." Kelly G. Wilson - M. Carmen Luciano Soriano
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