Steven Hayes
on Psychological Flexibility
and Transforming Pain into Purpose
Listen:
Show Notes:
Episode Description
If you’ve experienced hardships, it may be difficult to believe that the pain you’re enduring has the potential to bring you meaning, connection and a sense of purpose. How can we use our hurt to open our hearts? How can the principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy fuel that transformation?
On this episode, Dr. Hayes discusses connections between ACT and a diverse range of spiritual and religious practices, offering insights into how science can help us discern what’s helpful from what’s harmful. He shares about his own history of panic, mental health stigma, and his new insights about pivoting from a place of pain to one of purpose.
Takeaways
- How exploring the roots of his own panic disorder led Dr. Hayes to create ACT
- How we can leverage Western science to discern what’s helpful from what's harmful in the different wisdom traditions
- The deep connections between ACT and diverse spiritual traditions
- Dr. Hayes’ concern about taking mindfulness out of spiritual and religious contexts
- What informed Dr. Hayes’ decision to share openly about his personal struggle with panic disorder
- Dr. Hayes’ advice on how to decide whether to share your mental health challenges
- How we can leverage the idea of the pivot to take the energy inside an inflexible process and redirect it to a flexible one
- The danger associated with the biomedicalization of mental health problems
- Dr. Hayes’ insights around transforming our pain into purpose to address social challenges
- The interconnection between ACT and other interventions such as self-compassion
- What Dr. Hayes is doing to bring ACT's contributions on psychological flexibility to help regular people in the real world
About Dr. Hayes
Steven C. Hayes is a Foundation Professor of Psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno and is the author of 46 books including Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life (which for a time was the best-selling self-help book in the United States), and his new book A Liberated Mind. An expert on the importance of acceptance, mindfulness, and values he is ranked among the most cited psychologists in the world and his TEDx talks have been viewed nearly 3/4 of a million times.
Connect with Dr. Hayes
- If you want Steve's newsletter and a free mini-course on ACT just go to www.stevenchayes.com
Other Resources Mentioned
- A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters by Steven C. Hayes, PhD
- Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy by Steven C. Hayes with Spencer Smith
- Dr. Hayes on TEDx
- Dr. Alicia Meuret
- Dr. Nirbhay N. Singh
- Kyozan Joshu Susaki
- Books by DT Suzuki
- Books by Alan Watts
- ‘Making Sense of Spirituality’ in Behaviorism
- Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn
- ‘A Randomised Trial Comparing a Brief Online Delivery of Mindfulness-Plus-Values Versus Values Only for Symptoms of Depression: Does Baseline Severity Matter?’ in the Journal of Affective Disorders
- Dr. Rosemery O. Nelson-Gray
- Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
- Dr. Alexa Fine
- The Albert Ellis Institute
- Poetry by Khalil Gibran
- Association for Contextual Behavioral Science
- Dr. Paul Gilbert
- Dr. Stefan G. Hofmann
- Dr. David Sloan Wilson
- Dr. Paul Atkins
- Dr. Elinor Ostrom
- World Health Organization: Mental Health and Psychosocial Considerations During the COVID-19 Outbreak
Disclaimer: Please note that the information shared in this podcast is strictly for educational purposes only, and is not intended as psychological treatment or consultation of any kind.
Recent Past Episodes:
Hosts:
Katherine King, PsyD
Katherine King, PsyD is a clinical psychologist and assistant professor of psychology at William James College. She was trained in evidence-based treatments within the Veterans’ Administration and has a private practice specializing in geropsychology. She is also a member of the Boston Shambhala Center Board of Directors, a vajrayana student of Buddhism, and has practiced meditation for over 20 years. Learn more about Kate at www.drkateking.com.
Alex Gokce, MSW
Alex Gokce, MSW has a master’s degree in social work from Salem State University and an undergraduate degree in Comparative Government from Harvard University. He has led psychotherapy groups on topics including mindfulness, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mind-body approaches to pain management. He has co-led programs at the Boston Shambhala Center on the topics of trauma and self-compassion. His personal and professional interests center around the individual, societal and intergenerational impacts of trauma, as well as the sociocultural roots of interpersonal harm.
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