Re: Re: Updated a Document

[Guest guest]

Thank you for the idea.  I understand what you mean as I now have read about it, but have not been able to put it into use.  Yesterday I was unable to find any mental space.I will work on the exercises in The Happiness Trap as well.

 

,

I've discovered that the Story Teller defusion exercise is a good one.

Last Monday, I had my first session with a new counselor I'm seeing to help with my gambling addiction and social anxiety. The homework he gave me was 'name the story'.

It's been a fascinating and rewarding experience actually doing ACT instead of reading and thinking about it (I spend a lot of time in my head and not in the real world). It's early days yet, but what I've found so far is that figuring out what stories I'm telling myself really does help me create a distance from my thoughts and feelings.

Some of the stories I've come up with so far are:

" I'm crap at writing. "

" People are judging me badly. "

" I want their approval. "

" I'm not as good as they are. "

" I should conform. "

" I want to be liked by everyone. "

" People should do the right thing. "

The fact that I know these stories aren't true doesn't stop them coming up. They always have, and probably always will. But now that I'm beginning to see them for the fictions they are, I can hold them more lightly and do the things that matter to me.

Cheers,

Stan

>

> I am not sure how to add it or even if I should but I updated the " Create

> your own 'ACT' Toolkit' " document to better fit for printing. The previous

> version's tables split page breaks.

> It is in .doc format.

>

> If this is not appropriate, please delete it. If you want it in PDF format

> or in google docs I can do that as well.

>

> Phil

>

[Guest guest]

stan, thanks for sharing how you're using defusion exercise. It helps me to hear how others are applying ACT and that its not just an academic exercise., I just want to say i hear ya and I've felt the way you have, sometimes still do. I wanted to share a process that i've been working on that has helped me with doing ACT. I'm not sure if it will be useful for you. I hope that maybe it'll inspire a better idea or fit for you.I'm a simple dude and if things, particularly something that I don't want to do, are too complicated, I likely won't do them. So after reading the happiness trap, I found that fumbling through the book

looking for particular exercises to be too much effort. This was particularly true when i was dealing with a stressful situation and i was looking for any excuse not to do these exercises. I had already used the ACT toolkit but I found that it still meant that i would have to fumble through the book to find the exact exercise. What I decided to do instead was to create a power point slide show that listed the steps to do for whatever tool I wanted to do. I relied heavily on 's text but sometimes used my own wording if it made more sense to me. The first slide show I created was a crisis toolkit. has one on his website but it wasn't a good fit for me so i created my own. I've leaned on these slide shows because they are easy to get to (I place it in folder on desktop) and

the language is tailored with just the essentials. I've also exported the slide show as a PDF file and I keep it on my phone, so I can go through the exercises when i'm out.Hopefully this email has been of some use, but more importantly I just wanted to say, i understand what you're going through. regards,oTo:

ACT_for_the_Public Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 10:08 PMSubject: Re: Re: Updated a Document

Thank you for the idea. I understand what you mean as I now have read about it, but have not been able to put it into use. Yesterday I was unable to find any mental space.I will work on the exercises in The Happiness Trap as well.

,

I've discovered that the Story Teller defusion exercise is a good one.

Last Monday, I had my first session with a new counselor I'm seeing to help with my gambling addiction and social anxiety. The homework he gave me was 'name the story'.

It's been a fascinating and rewarding experience actually doing ACT instead of reading and thinking about it (I spend a lot of time in my head and not in the real world). It's early days yet, but what I've found so far is that figuring out what stories I'm telling myself really does help me create a distance from my thoughts and feelings.

Some of the stories I've come up with so far are:

"I'm crap at writing."

"People are judging me badly."

"I want their approval."

"I'm not as good as they are."

"I should conform."

"I want to be liked by everyone."

"People should do the right thing."

The fact that I know these stories aren't true doesn't stop them coming up. They always have, and probably always will. But now that I'm beginning to see them for the fictions they are, I can hold them more lightly and do the things that matter to me.

Cheers,

Stan

>

> I am not sure how to add it or even if I should but I updated the "Create

> your own 'ACT' Toolkit'" document to better fit for printing. The previous

> version's tables split page breaks.

> It is in .doc format.

>

> If this is not appropriate, please delete it. If you want it in PDF format

> or in google docs I can do that as well.

>

> Phil

>

[Guest guest]

More good ideas.  Thanks.  Maybe I will make a document up and post it.  I have to get motivated to do it though :(I received a letter from the VA telling me that I will soon have an appointment to determine how severe my disability is.  If I understand it correctly, they are agreeing I have issues but they need to determine how much money to give me.  Could be a decent sum.

  This raises the issue - should I work to get better or should I arrive at the interview strapped in like Hannibal Lectur

 

stan, thanks for sharing how you're using defusion exercise.    It helps me to hear how others are applying ACT and that its not just an academic exercise.

, I just want to say i hear ya and I've felt the way you have, sometimes still do.    I wanted to share a process that i've been working on that has helped me with doing ACT.     I'm not sure if it will be useful for you.  I hope that maybe it'll inspire a better idea or fit for you.

I'm a simple dude and if things, particularly something that I don't want to do, are too complicated, I likely won't do them.     So after reading the happiness trap, I found that fumbling through the book

looking for particular exercises to be too much effort.  This was particularly true when i was dealing with a stressful situation and i was looking for any excuse not to do these exercises.

I had already used the ACT toolkit but I found that it still meant that i would have to fumble through the book to find the exact exercise.   What I decided to do instead was to create a power point slide show that listed the steps to do for whatever tool I wanted to do.     I relied heavily on 's text but sometimes used my own wording if it made more sense to me.      The first slide show I created was a crisis toolkit.   has one on his website but it wasn't a good fit for me so i created my own.      I've leaned on these slide shows because they are easy to get to (I place it in folder on desktop) and

the language is tailored with just the essentials.   I've also exported the slide show as a PDF file and I keep it on my phone, so I can go through the exercises when i'm out.

Hopefully this email has been of some use, but more importantly I just wanted to say, i understand what you're going through.   regards,

o

To:

ACT_for_the_Public Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 10:08 PMSubject: Re: Re: Updated a Document

Thank you for the idea.  I understand what you mean as I now have read about it, but have not been able to put it into use.  Yesterday I was unable to find any mental space.I will work on the exercises in The Happiness Trap as well.

 

,

I've discovered that the Story Teller defusion exercise is a good one.

Last Monday, I had my first session with a new counselor I'm seeing to help with my gambling addiction and social anxiety. The homework he gave me was 'name the story'.

It's been a fascinating and rewarding experience actually doing ACT instead of reading and thinking about it (I spend a lot of time in my head and not in the real world). It's early days yet, but what I've found so far is that figuring out what stories I'm telling myself really does help me create a distance from my thoughts and feelings.

Some of the stories I've come up with so far are:

" I'm crap at writing. "

" People are judging me badly. "

" I want their approval. "

" I'm not as good as they are. "

" I should conform. "

" I want to be liked by everyone. "

" People should do the right thing. "

The fact that I know these stories aren't true doesn't stop them coming up. They always have, and probably always will. But now that I'm beginning to see them for the fictions they are, I can hold them more lightly and do the things that matter to me.

Cheers,

Stan

>

> I am not sure how to add it or even if I should but I updated the " Create

> your own 'ACT' Toolkit' " document to better fit for printing. The previous

> version's tables split page breaks.

> It is in .doc format.

>

> If this is not appropriate, please delete it. If you want it in PDF format

> or in google docs I can do that as well.

>

> Phil

>

[Guest guest]

Love the powerpoint idea! I had created posters to hang in my room, but I'm moving and that won't be practical any more. Plus this way I can store reminders in my phone - hadn't figured out a good way to do that - the chart is too large. Thanks!!From: ocwalsh@...Sender: ACT_for_the_Public Date: Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:15:22 -0700 (PDT)To: ACT_for_the_Public <ACT_for_the_Public >ReplyTo: ACT_for_the_Public Subject: Re: Re: Updated a Documentstan, thanks for sharing how you're using defusion exercise. It helps me to hear how others are applying ACT and that its not just an academic exercise., I just want to say i hear ya and I've felt the way you have, sometimes still do. I wanted to share a process that i've been working on that has helped me with doing ACT. I'm not sure if it will be useful for you. I hope that maybe it'll inspire a better idea or fit for you.I'm a simple dude and if things, particularly something that I don't want to do, are too complicated, I likely won't do them. So after reading the happiness trap, I found that fumbling through the booklooking for particular exercises to be too much effort. This was particularly true when i was dealing with a stressful situation and i was looking for any excuse not to do these exercises. I had already used the ACT toolkit but I found that it still meant that i would have to fumble through the book to find the exact exercise. What I decided to do instead was to create a power point slide show that listed the steps to do for whatever tool I wanted to do. I relied heavily on 's text but sometimes used my own wording if it made more sense to me. The first slide show I created was a crisis toolkit. has one on his website but it wasn't a good fit for me so i created my own. I've leaned on these slide shows because they are easy to get to (I place it in folder on desktop) andthe language is tailored with just the essentials. I've also exported the slide show as a PDF file and I keep it on my phone, so I can go through the exercises when i'm out.Hopefully this email has been of some use, but more importantly I just wanted to say, i understand what you're going through. regards,oTo:ACT_for_the_Public Sent: Tuesday, August 30, 2011 10:08 PMSubject: Re: Re: Updated a DocumentThank you for the idea. I understand what you mean as I now have read about it, but have not been able to put it into use. Yesterday I was unable to find any mental space.I will work on the exercises in The Happiness Trap as well. ,I've discovered that the Story Teller defusion exercise is a good one.Last Monday, I had my first session with a new counselor I'm seeing to help with my gambling addiction and social anxiety. The homework he gave me was 'name the story'.It's been a fascinating and rewarding experience actually doing ACT instead of reading and thinking about it (I spend a lot of time in my head and not in the real world). It's early days yet, but what I've found so far is that figuring out what stories I'm telling myself really does help me create a distance from my thoughts and feelings.Some of the stories I've come up with so far are:"I'm crap at writing.""People are judging me badly.""I want their approval.""I'm not as good as they are.""I should conform.""I want to be liked by everyone.""People should do the right thing."The fact that I know these stories aren't true doesn't stop them coming up. They always have, and probably always will. But now that I'm beginning to see them for the fictions they are, I can hold them more lightly and do the things that matter to me.Cheers,Stan>> I am not sure how to add it or even if I should but I updated the "Create> your own 'ACT' Toolkit'" document to better fit for printing. The previous> version's tables split page breaks.> It is in .doc format.> > If this is not appropriate, please delete it. If you want it in PDF format> or in google docs I can do that as well.> > Phil>