Author(s): MATTHEW MCKAY

ACT Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Interpersonal Problems presents a three-phase professional protocol therapists can use with clients who experience interpersonal disruptions and repeatedly fall into unhealthy patterns in their relationships with friends, family members, coworkers, and romantic partners. These clients may blame others, withdraw when threatened, react defensively in conflicts, act with contempt, continually find fault with others, or have a deep-seated sense of distrust. Most often, these forms of social dysfunction are rooted in maladaptive schemas, that is, unhelpful strongly held beliefs that clients may rely on to avoid feelings of inadequacy, rejection, and pain.
This professional book presents a complete acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) approach to working with these clients and helping them overcome their maladaptive social tendencies. It examines ten core schemas and describes the accompanying avoidance strategies that damage clients' relationships. First, clients will learn creative hopelessness and practice mindfulness skills. Second, clients examine what they value in their relationships and what they hope to gain from them, and translate their values into clear intentions for acting differently in the future. Lastly, clients face the barriers standing between them and values-based behavior in their relationships. By learning to defuse from schema-influenced thinking, clients can eventually overcome the patterns of avoidance that hold them back.
Appendix I of the book examines the research design and treatment outcome data for this protocol. Appendix II offers a complete acceptance and commitment therapy for interpersonal disorders group protocol.