Tools for mental brakes: 1. Mindfulness; observe your thoughts as if they are clouds passing by. 2. Give your mind a name; it's a way of creating distance from the narrative of mind. 3. Repeat the negative word really fast for 30 seconds. The word will lose its meaning. It's opposite of deja vu - jamais vu. 4. Give the mental narrative a funny voice; the main idea is to create a sense of separation.
What a LOVING, CARING, & *BEAUTIFULLY-GIFTED speaker this man is!! I'm blown away by his ability to make such difficult & complex issues so easily understood! Those 30 years of dedication are some of THE MOST VALUABLE IN HISTORY in regards to the knowledge & compassion that he has brought to humanity! With love & *deep respect! ... THANK you Sir!
If you want to get rid of this busy mind completely . Just say , " I don't have these characters " . And they will go away , Thank me later and enjoy the void .
My therapist assigned me this TEDTalk. I’ve been working through some really rough stuff and my time in counseling is in its infancy. I was not ready for the breakthrough I would have at the end of the video and I can’t wait to share. My younger self would be both excited and appalled with me. Excited because of where I am and appalled that I ever even have the inkling of an idea that I am not doing the best I can. I bawled like a baby. This was fantastic
Thank you for Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT). I tried various cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but they did more harm than good in stressful situations. I ended up fusing my thoughts so often I trained myself to have general anxiety disorder and panic attacks. ACT and a few other things helped me reduce and eliminate panic. You do fantastic science that saves lives and helps recover from mental suffering.
My mom just died and I am beginning to burn out doing so much. I was skipping meals until I completed stuff and and tired from driving my dad around and dropping things off so we can cancel things. I am 35 but have a life that feels like a 60-year old. I put off doing laundry for so long that I started buying new items. No one dropped off food yet, and it has been a week since mom died. Local elections are Tuesday. My family flying from California aren't coming until later. And, my uncle's anniversary of his suicide is the day before mom's funeral this Friday. So much won't get done until I do it, but I might have help later. But, I cannot push it all off because I have no idea when my brothers are flying from California. They won't come until the tickets are the cheapest. They can't afford hotels and plane tickets, so they will stay with us. I am having to make room. The only way I am dealing is learning to slow down and listen to my own needs. It's hard to ask people for help, because I don't know what to ask. I am just doing my best. Listening to things like this helps.
This Ted Talk from Steven Hayes is superb. I have seen similar talks where he is more engaging because it was personal, but this is the most useful one I have seen so far because he showed you (1) the powerful influence ( and science) of language, (2) the moment of that influence, and (3) multiple, practical ways of dealing with these events. I have never heard this explained so clearly in such a short period of time. If you are a scientist, notice the importance of RFT. If you are religious, notice there is more to what you notice than who you think you are. If you meditate, this is another way to consider what you have already noticed is quite important.
Thank you. This helps a lot with my panic disorder. I watched Psychological Flexibility first and then this one and I feel hope. I have always hidden my injured child away - shaming her for her weakness, but after watching, I sat back and listened. I looked at a picture of myself as a child, closed my eyes - and embraced her. I felt her tears on my cheeks; her pain in my heart. When I was 13 (over 30 years ago years ago) I wrote: Hide in yourself - don't let anyone see - who you are or what you want to be. Hide your thoughts - don't let them show - Just paint on a smile - no one will know. Do I have love deep inside - and if I do why does it hide. I want to look into your eyes and see you understand. I want the warmth of love - Please come take my hand. Doctor Hayes, I looked into your eyes and saw you understood. Today I suffer from PTSD, agoraphobia, avoidance, co-dependency, panic disorder, battered women's syndrome, and phobias. I've allowed these things to control my life experience. Is there any way to use this technique for PTSD? I feel I have no control of the flashbacks. They hit me like a storm. Is there a way to stop them from happening using ACT?
Tools for mental brakes: The main idea is to create a sense of separation. 1. Mindfulness; pin your thoughts on clouds or cars, which are passing by 2. Give your mind a name; it's a way of creating distance from the narrative of mind. 3. Repeat the negative word really fast for 30 seconds. The word will lose its meaning. It's opposite of deja vu - jamais vu. 4. Give the mental narrative a funny voice 5. Sing the mental narrative 6. Write the thought or adjective on your tshirt or desktop background 7. Imagine yourself as a little child saying it
hi Steve I followed your link and watched this and did the exercise at the end and I wept with relief. thank you. the power of the internet, I would have had to travel miles and pay a therapist a mucho dinero to get anywhere near what I experienced. today is the day in my life that I know I have found the right path, thank you from the bottom of my heart my friend.
Cool. It's not a straight line path ... more like a roller coaster at times ... so give yourself room to stumble. There are reasons for that part. On this path you will encounter new and challenging things. You are putting down a set of old stinky lifeless problems in exchange for lots of new, scary, vital problems! So be gentle with yourself and don't let your mind claim its the source of all progress. BELIEVING in ACT is not what is needed here. It's one a step at a time process of living a different way -- one that is emotionally open, mindfully aware, and committed to a values-based behavioral journey. And consider joining that ACT for the Public Yahoo list. Great human beings. They will help.
We yearn to be able to act effectively in the world; to live, and love, and play, and create skillfully. This is the yearning for competence -to be able. 🍀 Steven C. Hayes
Genius! Thank you Dr. Hayes for your inspiring talk! Fighting with anxiety i can tell coming onto practice is not as easy as it sounds but does do the work... Thats how our mind worka indeed from time to time and thats when we have to put the breaks on! It scares me a bit that ita a lifetime journey though (thats my mind speaking now) but i hope i can turn my life towards values and volunteerism where i think i find happiness most otherwise without my panic attacks i would be intersted in just being a modern way of life fashion victim! Thank you again Dr..
I LOVE this TED talk so much...I’ve seen it so many times. I love the ideas in it and also how it’s presented; Steven is knowledgeable, kind, and funny. Thank you for posting :)
Dr. Hayes, I have found these strategies helpful in coping with rumination. I find I am no longer bothered by many things that used to pain me for too long. Bonus, as an aspiring behavior analyst, I have found that I can let a lot of the stresses at work go at the drop of a dime. I'd love to read some research on how these strategies help those with rumination, can you point me in the right direction? Further, is there any research on how professionals can use these strategies to copy with work stress?
Sorry for the delay. There are several studies on ACT for work stress. Search for work by Paul Flaxman and Frank Bond to begin with. They have a book out that summarizes much of it: The Mindful and Effective Employee (New Harbinger). We did a study with teachers who were stressed looking at the impact of "Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life" (Jeffcoat and Hayes. Here is the doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2012.05.008). As for rumination, go to Google Scholar and put in "experiential avoidance" AND rumination, then repeat the search with "psychological flexibility" AND rumination. You will find dozens of relevant studies. Again, sorry for the delay.
Thank you for this Steven & TED. It was recommended to me by a therapist from the Southwark (London) CBT Online team. Great pooling of resources and an excellent model the NHS and global health collaboration. They say life doesn't come with an instruction manual but this diagnostic tool for the brain should be given out at birth!
Thanks Solo. Yeah, I wish I had it earlier too! But when the student is ready, the teacher appears -- I think it takes being punched in the nose a few times before we are ready to dethrone the advisor within.
Incredible, real tools!!! 👍 Hats off to this Gentleman!🍶🥛 I'm currently watching every video he's in on TH-cam. Time very well spent if you ask me! 😊😊😊
One thing I don't understand with ACT is that sometimes thoughts are abstract and don't have language triggers - or that there is no single word that sums up a difficult encounter and so on...
This is one of the best talks i´ve listened to,when it comes to helping you´re self... Right now i´m going through a difficult time,and these "tricks" to actually put down the brake, just helps me so much. Just have to figure out what to name my mind haha! :D
A wonderful and personal summary of RFT, and combined with the other TEDTalk about psychological flexibility, a perfect introduction to ACT. Thank you Dr. Hayes, I will surely share it with my colleagues (and some clients). I deeply admire your work and the huge contributions you (and your colleagues) are doing to the whole field of psychology and psychotherapy. A big step forwards towards a more wise, efficacious and humanistic therapy.
what a fantastic video ....gives me hope to help understand my psychotic paranoid schizophrenic temporal lobe epileptic son ( how those psychiatrists love their lables )
Love this video suggestion your calculator example should be explained in more reality like useing a old school type writer do to the fact those do not have a deleat botton of which a calculator dose have a deleat and back/ clear botton
Brilliant video Steven Hayes.. Thanks for the tools and the keeping it simple approach.. You replied off a comment I made on your other tedx talk recommending looking for your other tedx talk (this one I presume).. Thanks again for that and all your work you ate doing which is helping and helpful to peoples lives..
Seems like you used a different style to your other TED talk in this one. I found the first powerful and profound and this one extremely practical. I loved both. I did a workshop with a football team last week on cognitive defusion and it would have been handy to see this beforehand. I could have spread even more metaphors around! I'm coming to your talk in London in September. I can't wait.
Super. I will see you there. Hey -- send the football team this link and see how that works! I've gotten very good feedback so far from people doing such things ... We've done work on acceptance and defusion in athletics, by the way, and its helpful to their actual sports performance to learn how to be psychologically flexible.
Oh, and I'm glad you noticed the different style. I did that on purpose. That first TEDx was so emotional and on the edge that some people were just freaked out (one person in the publishing industry looked at it and said he did not want to publish my books after seeing it because I'd obviously lost it!). I don't want people to think ACT is always that way in terms of style and tone. It can be funny, playful, determined, moving, compassionate, geeky -- it can be a lot of things. People are different. Not everyone can relate to the level of intensity in that first TED so you need different styles to fit the need and the topic.
Oh I am happy to hear that! I'm about to start a research project using ACT and the MAC approach to see if it improves football performance over a season. I strongly believe it will impact it positively because of my own personal experience of it but I'm really excited to see the results. I have found the ACT model to be so realistic to the human condition. Thank you
Haha I can imagine some people freaking out at the first one. I thought it was pretty courageous to put yourself out there like that and go into your personal story as well as acting it out. It made it super engaging and you can clearly see from the comments that it made it so impactful to watch. I think someone commented it was the most powerful ted talk they had ever heard! But of course, everyone is different and at different stages in their lives, so it won't ever be liked by every one, nor will anything as you know. Keep it up, you're making such an impact with people.
My counselor suggested me to watch this. How can this help a person who had one experience or episode of PTSD? How does this help with rumination of traumatic thoughts and negative thoughts?
Hello, i hope this helps. One of the main problems, from the perspective of acceptance and commitment theraphy (ACT) is not the content of the memories or thougths but the way we react to them. Most of us have been taught to run, hide, and figth against our memories, thougths and feelings and this is a unefective aproach because most ot the time and despite our efforts, we continue to feel, think and remember the same things. If you are experiencing PTSD, is normal (and painfull or scary) to have memories and rumiation, however this is not the "problem", but how are you responding to them. So, the problem as i said is not the content, and off course we all have painfull contennts that we wish not to feel, but since them are out of our control instead we can choose to ACT and react different and route our actions into things that are still valuable for us (family, friends, work, healt, etc) despite the pain. For most of us it's difficult to understand and to conect to this perspective, however it's been prove to be one of the most efective ones in order to dealing with this "negative" feelings and memories. If maybe you want to know more about this perspective you can fin the books of Dr. Hayes and another of his colegues Kelly Wilson on amazon.
My thoughts are not words like - mean, useless, evil. My thoughts are terrifying about strokes, migraines etc after I had one 23 years ago and my fears got worse and worse as I struggled to be 'normal'. I tried to say strokestrokestroke again and again - if I just keep doing it will the fear subside? Same with migraine? Loved the talk but I think my problems are too difficult to use these breaks.
Well, actually a decent sized randomized trial recently found that ACT had one of the strongest effects on health anxiety ever recorded. "My problems are too difficult" is a message from the same organ that produced your problems in the first place (correct?) so take these mental messages with a grain of salt. Your experience -- my fears got worse and worse as I struggled to be 'normal' --- is itself absolutely normal. Your mind is not necessarily your friend here. If something in the talk resonated and you can afford it, consider seeking out an ACT therapist (you can find a list at www.contextualscience.org). You might try a popular ACT self help book (I have one that has been tested in randomized trials ... search on my name at Amazon. Consider joining the ACT for the Public list serve (free -- it is on Yahoo Groups). Check out my other TRDx talk. And if you are going to try the methods in this talk ... start with the last one. It wll give you the spirit in which you might do word repetition (I might suggest die die die over stroke stroke stroke ... find what the fearsome core is that you mind says you have to run from). Good luck. - S
Thank you so much for responding. I am in the UK so I doubt there are any ACT therapists covered by our National Health Service. I will order the book and hope the best. Thankyou so much. This fear has ramped up even more since I lost my dad 18 months ago and he was everything to me. Thank so much.
There are several hundred ACT therapists in the UK, and most are inside the NHS. Try this link and see if you see anyone nearby: contextualscience.org/civicrm/profile?_qf_Search_display=true&qfKey=a1c8a11ff070782c5dc49f7fdfac4e3c_1545 (if the link does not work, go to contextualscience.org and then "Find an ACT therapist" and then put in the UK in the search criteria). If that still does not work, email me at my University email (my last name @unr.edu) and I will try to help. But the book may be of uyse. If you are going try that, for sure join the free list serve tho ... to help when you get stuck: health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACT_for_the_Public/join
@@helenag.9386 Fears are not quick to undo. Check out DARE and “Hope and Help For Your Nerves” if you have panic attacks over it. ACT also turns fear into a dare: (1)defuse the thoughts, (2) accept the discomfort, (3)realistic goals, (4) and engage with your values.
Dear Steven Hayes, I have just started reading your book "Get Out of Your Mind & Into Your Life" translated into Swedish. I find it very valuable and will train according to your methods. Many years ago I read literature by Sigmund Freud and remember his theories about language. Even if Freud wrote his articles 120 years ago I think he also focused on the interplay between mind and language. What is your opinion about this historical context ACT and psychoanalysis?
This seems like a very important exercise for good mental health. However, this can unintentionally promote no progress towards self improvement. For example, the “I am mean” thought. That could be a legitimate thought that you should focus on. If you just dismiss it like that then you will never improve. Because what if you really ARE mean? Or, what if you really IS something wrong with you? If you just dismiss these then you will never be able to go to therapy and work out what is causing your issues.
I get what you are saying, but for the vast majority of sufferers: it is false. If it were true, you could work on it and move on it. But when it’s wrong, it’s easy to tangle and argue with the thought.
Two years ago when I took my son out Trick or Treating I did not have time to get into a costume so I just went out in my normal clothes ... we go up to the first door with another family arriving at the same time and this 6 year old girl from the other family looks up at me (Dr. Steven C. Hayes aka Uncle Fester) and says "You look like a monster!" It ain't fair, it ain't fair. : )
Not such a bad deal, Uncle Fester in 'Adams Family Values' = Childhood Hero...I was a weird kid. Hope my English banter came across good-humored. Absorbed the 'Get Out of Your Mind...' audiobook recently and I'm now working my way through the paperback workbook. I'm realising this is going to take some real work, but I'm excited to see where it goes. And yes, I am still acutely aware of what noise a 'Gub Gub' makes :-)
Woo! It was clearly good humored ... and I laughed out loud when I saw it. Face it. i DO look like Uncle Fester! Glad to hear that you followed thru. Check out the Yahoo Group "ACT for the Public" if you want support from folks in walking through Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life.
Hello Steve, I enjoyed the talk very much and thank you for the brakes idea. Do you have any ideas for subconscious? I lost my 19 year old son to suicide in 2011 and I walked in and found him. I fight pretty good when I am awake but my sleep is something else. I've woken to no pillows or sheets from all my moving around in my sleep. Any ideas?
All the suggestions are exposure therapy. Not running from but facing up. Prescribing the symptom really. It is interesting how it all comes from behaviorism, which was pretty compassionless in the beginning.
Tools for mental brakes:
1. Mindfulness; observe your thoughts as if they are clouds passing by.
2. Give your mind a name; it's a way of creating distance from the narrative of mind.
3. Repeat the negative word really fast for 30 seconds. The word will lose its meaning. It's opposite of deja vu - jamais vu.
4. Give the mental narrative a funny voice; the main idea is to create a sense of separation.
What a LOVING, CARING, & *BEAUTIFULLY-GIFTED speaker this man is!! I'm blown away by his ability to make such difficult & complex issues so easily understood! Those 30 years of dedication are some of
THE MOST VALUABLE IN HISTORY in regards to the knowledge & compassion that he has brought to humanity!
With love & *deep respect! ...
THANK you Sir!
If you want to get rid of this busy mind completely .
Just say , " I don't have these characters " .
And they will go away , Thank me later and enjoy the void .
Self-help and Behavioral Health recovery 101: We are not our thoughts. Beautiful and illuminating speech. Thank you, Dr. Steven Hayes.
é sobre
My therapist assigned me this TEDTalk. I’ve been working through some really rough stuff and my time in counseling is in its infancy. I was not ready for the breakthrough I would have at the end of the video and I can’t wait to share. My younger self would be both excited and appalled with me. Excited because of where I am and appalled that I ever even have the inkling of an idea that I am not doing the best I can. I bawled like a baby. This was fantastic
Thank you for Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT). I tried various cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), but they did more harm than good in stressful situations. I ended up fusing my thoughts so often I trained myself to have general anxiety disorder and panic attacks. ACT and a few other things helped me reduce and eliminate panic.
You do fantastic science that saves lives and helps recover from mental suffering.
Same experience here, you're not alone!
Me too. I have CPTSD. ACT really helped me move forward. CBT and DBT could only do so much. Mindfulness was the final tool I needed.
My mom just died and I am beginning to burn out doing so much. I was skipping meals until I completed stuff and and tired from driving my dad around and dropping things off so we can cancel things. I am 35 but have a life that feels like a 60-year old. I put off doing laundry for so long that I started buying new items. No one dropped off food yet, and it has been a week since mom died. Local elections are Tuesday. My family flying from California aren't coming until later. And, my uncle's anniversary of his suicide is the day before mom's funeral this Friday. So much won't get done until I do it, but I might have help later. But, I cannot push it all off because I have no idea when my brothers are flying from California. They won't come until the tickets are the cheapest. They can't afford hotels and plane tickets, so they will stay with us. I am having to make room.
The only way I am dealing is learning to slow down and listen to my own needs. It's hard to ask people for help, because I don't know what to ask. I am just doing my best. Listening to things like this helps.
This Ted Talk from Steven Hayes is superb. I have seen similar talks where he is more engaging because it was personal, but this is the most useful one I have seen so far because he showed you (1) the powerful influence ( and science) of language, (2) the moment of that influence, and (3) multiple, practical ways of dealing with these events. I have never heard this explained so clearly in such a short period of time. If you are a scientist, notice the importance of RFT. If you are religious, notice there is more to what you notice than who you think you are. If you meditate, this is another way to consider what you have already noticed is quite important.
Thank you. This helps a lot with my panic disorder. I watched Psychological Flexibility first and then this one and I feel hope. I have always hidden my injured child away - shaming her for her weakness, but after watching, I sat back and listened. I looked at a picture of myself as a child, closed my eyes - and embraced her. I felt her tears on my cheeks; her pain in my heart. When I was 13 (over 30 years ago years ago) I wrote:
Hide in yourself - don't let anyone see -
who you are or what you want to be.
Hide your thoughts - don't let them show -
Just paint on a smile - no one will know.
Do I have love deep inside -
and if I do why does it hide.
I want to look into your eyes and see you understand.
I want the warmth of love - Please come take my hand.
Doctor Hayes, I looked into your eyes and saw you understood. Today I suffer from PTSD, agoraphobia, avoidance, co-dependency, panic disorder, battered women's syndrome, and phobias. I've allowed these things to control my life experience.
Is there any way to use this technique for PTSD? I feel I have no control of the flashbacks. They hit me like a storm. Is there a way to stop them from happening using ACT?
Jennifer T Look up books by Robyn Walser on Amazon. She has researched PTSD using ACT.
Jennifer T contextualscience.org/podcast/10_act_for_coping_with_trauma_and_ptsd_with_robyn
Thank you. I'll look for it.
It's been a long while; if you still suffer panic attacks, Try DARE and “Hope and Help For Your Nerves” by Claire Weekes.
Tools for mental brakes:
The main idea is to create a sense of separation.
1. Mindfulness; pin your thoughts on clouds or cars, which are passing by
2. Give your mind a name; it's a way of creating distance from the narrative of mind.
3. Repeat the negative word really fast for 30 seconds. The word will lose its meaning. It's opposite of deja vu - jamais vu.
4. Give the mental narrative a funny voice
5. Sing the mental narrative
6. Write the thought or adjective on your tshirt or desktop background
7. Imagine yourself as a little child saying it
you re changing my life, Steve. And my patients` too (I m a psychotherapist). Thank you.
Please help me change mine.
ACT enables me to live the life I want. Thank you Steven for all your research and work. It's literally been life-changing.
Brian DiStefano wat is ACT
@@shy-annb.21 Acceptance Commitment Therapy
Me too
hi Steve I followed your link and watched this and did the exercise at the end and I wept with relief. thank you. the power of the internet, I would have had to travel miles and pay a therapist a mucho dinero to get anywhere near what I experienced. today is the day in my life that I know I have found the right path, thank you from the bottom of my heart my friend.
Cool. It's not a straight line path ... more like a roller coaster at times ... so give yourself room to stumble. There are reasons for that part. On this path you will encounter new and challenging things. You are putting down a set of old stinky lifeless problems in exchange for lots of new, scary, vital problems! So be gentle with yourself and don't let your mind claim its the source of all progress. BELIEVING in ACT is not what is needed here. It's one a step at a time process of living a different way -- one that is emotionally open, mindfully aware, and committed to a values-based behavioral journey. And consider joining that ACT for the Public Yahoo list. Great human beings. They will help.
Steven Haye
Great stuff really helped me a lot
Can you tell me where to find it thx
We yearn to be able to act effectively in the world;
to live,
and love,
and play,
and create skillfully.
This is the yearning for competence
-to be able.
🍀
Steven C. Hayes
I just finished reading Dr Hayes book A Liberated Mind. Good stuff. I’m already using the tools to tackle my anxiety.
During the talk I was already feeling better, even without yet trying it out. It's good to have hope.
Oh my goodness. I cried through most of that. Thank you for doing the thing. And what a storyteller you are too.
Best talk! Thank you Dr. Steven Hayes.
I think this Ted talk just changed my life. Thank you Steven Hayes & George :)
I've watched this twice already. So righteous.
Dr. Steven Hayes, you are phenomenal! ❤ Thanks for helping me especially for putting the mental brake! Best ever!!🎉
From a plumber to army man to astronaut to psychologist, this man has impressive skills.
Genius! Thank you Dr. Hayes for your inspiring talk! Fighting with anxiety i can tell coming onto practice is not as easy as it sounds but does do the work... Thats how our mind worka indeed from time to time and thats when we have to put the breaks on! It scares me a bit that ita a lifetime journey though (thats my mind speaking now) but i hope i can turn my life towards values and volunteerism where i think i find happiness most otherwise without my panic attacks i would be intersted in just being a modern way of life fashion victim! Thank you again Dr..
Absolutely beautiful presentation. Thanks Steven Hayes, this gives us hope and the motivation to get unstuck.
Yes. You are of use. tks. again. Mr. Hayes.
love Steven already
this vid should be taught to everybody 💝
These strategies will actually work! Life changing advice, thank you.
I LOVE this TED talk so much...I’ve seen it so many times. I love the ideas in it and also how it’s presented; Steven is knowledgeable, kind, and funny. Thank you for posting :)
Thank you sir ! Thanks for sharing ! I learned from it. It heals me on the spot after i named her "George" ! Thank you !
Dr. Hayes, I have found these strategies helpful in coping with rumination. I find I am no longer bothered by many things that used to pain me for too long. Bonus, as an aspiring behavior analyst, I have found that I can let a lot of the stresses at work go at the drop of a dime. I'd love to read some research on how these strategies help those with rumination, can you point me in the right direction? Further, is there any research on how professionals can use these strategies to copy with work stress?
Sorry for the delay. There are several studies on ACT for work stress. Search for work by Paul Flaxman and Frank Bond to begin with. They have a book out that summarizes much of it: The Mindful and Effective Employee (New Harbinger). We did a study with teachers who were stressed looking at the impact of "Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life" (Jeffcoat and Hayes. Here is the doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2012.05.008). As for rumination, go to Google Scholar and put in "experiential avoidance" AND rumination, then repeat the search with "psychological flexibility" AND rumination. You will find dozens of relevant studies. Again, sorry for the delay.
The best ted talks i've heard. Maybe the only useful and practical one that worth my time. Thanks.
He is so great..
Thank you for this Steven & TED. It was recommended to me by a therapist from the Southwark (London) CBT Online team. Great pooling of resources and an excellent model the NHS and global health collaboration. They say life doesn't come with an instruction manual but this diagnostic tool for the brain should be given out at birth!
Thanks Solo. Yeah, I wish I had it earlier too! But when the student is ready, the teacher appears -- I think it takes being punched in the nose a few times before we are ready to dethrone the advisor within.
Great and helpful talk from a true great- in Steven C Hayes❤
Incredible, real tools!!! 👍
Hats off to this Gentleman!🍶🥛
I'm currently watching every video he's in on TH-cam. Time very well spent if you ask me! 😊😊😊
He seems so sweet
Thanks Steve! Awesome metaphors, wonderfully expressed in such a short time frame! Very impactful!
excellence! incredible speech, the calmed way of speaking, it was mesmerizing!
thank you george
May be my favourite ted talk, one of the best, very well done, I like him
This talk by Gordon Craven is brilliant
One thing I don't understand with ACT is that sometimes thoughts are abstract and don't have language triggers - or that there is no single word that sums up a difficult encounter and so on...
?? What’s the thing you don’t understand about ACT?
Thank you VERY MUCH ! Works like a charm
Excellent. Thanks Steve 🙏
I absolutely looooove this!!! Best TED Talk I’ve ever seen. Your video will help me help others for sure. Thank you💛
This is so helpful for me to watch.
This is one of the best talks i´ve listened to,when it comes to helping you´re self... Right now i´m going through a difficult time,and these "tricks" to actually put down the brake, just helps me so much. Just have to figure out what to name my mind haha! :D
INCREIBLE
Excellent, inspiring, helpful.
Thank you Sir.
me too...I love Steve already!
Now I'm hungry for hats.
Four years later I still remember the numbers 😂
Hey! You are young... we will see later, ok?
@@marekkazimierczak9210I’ll come back in few years
Creep
Hat
@@Michel-mb7yq Douuughnuuts
Thank you so much for this information. Amazing, helpful and life changing.
Question: When you say 'your mind' could you say "the brain"? Luv your message Mr. Hayes.
A wonderful and personal summary of RFT, and combined with the other TEDTalk about psychological flexibility, a perfect introduction to ACT. Thank you Dr. Hayes, I will surely share it with my colleagues (and some clients). I deeply admire your work and the huge contributions you (and your colleagues) are doing to the whole field of psychology and psychotherapy. A big step forwards towards a more wise, efficacious and humanistic therapy.
what a fantastic video ....gives me hope to help understand my psychotic paranoid schizophrenic temporal lobe epileptic son ( how those psychiatrists love their lables )
I love your work which gives me so much hope x.
Genius! Amazing talk
Maravilloso gracias
Excelente. Gracias
"Hold the paper up to the light. Some waves pass right through." -Talking Heads
Lovely talk❤
Love this video suggestion your calculator example should be explained in more reality like useing a old school type writer do to the fact those do not have a deleat botton of which a calculator dose have a deleat and back/ clear botton
Brilliant video Steven Hayes.. Thanks for the tools and the keeping it simple approach.. You replied off a comment I made on your other tedx talk recommending looking for your other tedx talk (this one I presume).. Thanks again for that and all your work you ate doing which is helping and helpful to peoples lives..
I really enjoyed this!
Thanks Steven :) !
Excellent!
I had to wait 6 years and a lot of searching to find this perfectly timed video. Thank you, 1 2 3, $10,000? LOL
Thank you Steve for this nice and interesting explanation of RFT (and ACT)
"Cats and dogs can't do that."
Billi: "MAD"
Life-changing 💝
Seems like you used a different style to your other TED talk in this one. I found the first powerful and profound and this one extremely practical. I loved both. I did a workshop with a football team last week on cognitive defusion and it would have been handy to see this beforehand. I could have spread even more metaphors around! I'm coming to your talk in London in September. I can't wait.
Super. I will see you there. Hey -- send the football team this link and see how that works!
I've gotten very good feedback so far from people doing such things ...
We've done work on acceptance and defusion in athletics, by the way, and its helpful to their actual sports performance to learn how to be psychologically flexible.
Oh, and I'm glad you noticed the different style. I did that on purpose. That first TEDx was so emotional and on the edge that some people were just freaked out (one person in the publishing industry looked at it and said he did not want to publish my books after seeing it because I'd obviously lost it!). I don't want people to think ACT is always that way in terms of style and tone. It can be funny, playful, determined, moving, compassionate, geeky -- it can be a lot of things. People are different. Not everyone can relate to the level of intensity in that first TED so you need different styles to fit the need and the topic.
Oh I am happy to hear that! I'm about to start a research project using ACT and the MAC approach to see if it improves football performance over a season. I strongly believe it will impact it positively because of my own personal experience of it but I'm really excited to see the results. I have found the ACT model to be so realistic to the human condition. Thank you
Haha I can imagine some people freaking out at the first one. I thought it was pretty courageous to put yourself out there like that and go into your personal story as well as acting it out. It made it super engaging and you can clearly see from the comments that it made it so impactful to watch. I think someone commented it was the most powerful ted talk they had ever heard! But of course, everyone is different and at different stages in their lives, so it won't ever be liked by every one, nor will anything as you know. Keep it up, you're making such an impact with people.
My counselor suggested me to watch this. How can this help a person who had one experience or episode of PTSD?
How does this help with rumination of traumatic thoughts and negative thoughts?
Hello, i hope this helps. One of the main problems, from the perspective of acceptance and commitment theraphy (ACT) is not the content of the memories or thougths but the way we react to them. Most of us have been taught to run, hide, and figth against our memories, thougths and feelings and this is a unefective aproach because most ot the time and despite our efforts, we continue to feel, think and remember the same things.
If you are experiencing PTSD, is normal (and painfull or scary) to have memories and rumiation, however this is not the "problem", but how are you responding to them.
So, the problem as i said is not the content, and off course we all have painfull contennts that we wish not to feel, but since them are out of our control instead we can choose to ACT and react different and route our actions into things that are still valuable for us (family, friends, work, healt, etc) despite the pain.
For most of us it's difficult to understand and to conect to this perspective, however it's been prove to be one of the most efective ones in order to dealing with this "negative" feelings and memories.
If maybe you want to know more about this perspective you can fin the books of Dr. Hayes and another of his colegues Kelly Wilson on amazon.
Extremely useful video, thank you very much.
Here's one I discovered--
Look at yourself in the mirror and make silly/mad/sad/goofy faces at yourself, until you just have to laugh.
thank you!
Excelente Tx.
thank you！
Very insightful.
thank you for this talk, it is really helpful. gracias
Thanks
As usually great.
4:56 He said "Doo-doo." 😅
I'll go ahead and pat myself on the back for that one first 😂😂😂
gracias
I am not my thoughts and I don't have to defend them.
My thoughts are not words like - mean, useless, evil. My thoughts are terrifying about strokes, migraines etc after I had one 23 years ago and my fears got worse and worse as I struggled to be 'normal'. I tried to say strokestrokestroke again and again - if I just keep doing it will the fear subside? Same with migraine? Loved the talk but I think my problems are too difficult to use these breaks.
Well, actually a decent sized randomized trial recently found that ACT had one of the strongest effects on health anxiety ever recorded. "My problems are too difficult" is a message from the same organ that produced your problems in the first place (correct?) so take these mental messages with a grain of salt. Your experience -- my fears got worse and worse as I struggled to be 'normal' --- is itself absolutely normal. Your mind is not necessarily your friend here. If something in the talk resonated and you can afford it, consider seeking out an ACT therapist (you can find a list at www.contextualscience.org). You might try a popular ACT self help book (I have one that has been tested in randomized trials ... search on my name at Amazon. Consider joining the ACT for the Public list serve (free -- it is on Yahoo Groups). Check out my other TRDx talk. And if you are going to try the methods in this talk ... start with the last one. It wll give you the spirit in which you might do word repetition (I might suggest die die die over stroke stroke stroke ... find what the fearsome core is that you mind says you have to run from). Good luck. - S
Thank you so much for responding. I am in the UK so I doubt there are any ACT therapists covered by our National Health Service. I will order the book and hope the best. Thankyou so much. This fear has ramped up even more since I lost my dad 18 months ago and he was everything to me. Thank so much.
There are several hundred ACT therapists in the UK, and most are inside the NHS. Try this link and see if you see anyone nearby: contextualscience.org/civicrm/profile?_qf_Search_display=true&qfKey=a1c8a11ff070782c5dc49f7fdfac4e3c_1545 (if the link does not work, go to contextualscience.org and then "Find an ACT therapist" and then put in the UK in the search criteria). If that still does not work, email me at my University email (my last name @unr.edu) and I will try to help. But the book may be of uyse. If you are going try that, for sure join the free list serve tho ... to help when you get stuck: health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACT_for_the_Public/join
@@helenag.9386 Fears are not quick to undo. Check out DARE and “Hope and Help For Your Nerves” if you have panic attacks over it. ACT also turns fear into a dare: (1)defuse the thoughts, (2) accept the discomfort, (3)realistic goals, (4) and engage with your values.
Loved it!
I’m having trouble following this lecture. Can someone please provide the point/steps? Is this a tactic to redirect thoughts? I’m lost. 🤷🏼♀️
고마워요
every time someone mentions donuts or hats, you know what I’ll be thinking of
Dear Steven Hayes, I have just started reading your book "Get Out of Your Mind & Into Your Life" translated into Swedish. I find it very valuable and will train according to your methods. Many years ago I read literature by Sigmund Freud and remember his theories about language. Even if Freud wrote his articles 120 years ago I think he also focused on the interplay between mind and language. What is your opinion about this historical context ACT and psychoanalysis?
I guess the most important link might be humour.
Whatever you do it will work with a lot of humour.
Warm regards from Germoney
This seems like a very important exercise for good mental health.
However, this can unintentionally promote no progress towards self improvement.
For example, the “I am mean” thought. That could be a legitimate thought that you should focus on. If you just dismiss it like that then you will never improve. Because what if you really ARE mean? Or, what if you really IS something wrong with you? If you just dismiss these then you will never be able to go to therapy and work out what is causing your issues.
I get what you are saying, but for the vast majority of sufferers: it is false.
If it were true, you could work on it and move on it. But when it’s wrong, it’s easy to tangle and argue with the thought.
If the thought is true is irrelevant. The focus is about the usefulness
That I’m balalalalad is so cute haha!
~ Steven Hayes
Or NEVER Mind!!!
your amzing
Who knew Uncle Fester was a brilliant psychologist?
Two years ago when I took my son out Trick or Treating I did not have time to get into a costume so I just went out in my normal clothes ... we go up to the first door with another family arriving at the same time and this 6 year old girl from the other family looks up at me (Dr. Steven C. Hayes aka Uncle Fester) and says "You look like a monster!" It ain't fair, it ain't fair. : )
Not such a bad deal, Uncle Fester in 'Adams Family Values' = Childhood Hero...I was a weird kid.
Hope my English banter came across good-humored. Absorbed the 'Get Out of Your Mind...' audiobook recently and I'm now working my way through the paperback workbook. I'm realising this is going to take some real work, but I'm excited to see where it goes. And yes, I am still acutely aware of what noise a 'Gub Gub' makes :-)
Woo! It was clearly good humored ... and I laughed out loud when I saw it. Face it. i DO look like Uncle Fester! Glad to hear that you followed thru. Check out the Yahoo Group "ACT for the Public" if you want support from folks in walking through Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life.
Wow! 😶🥲
Brilliant. Thank you!
Hello Steve, I enjoyed the talk very much and thank you for the brakes idea. Do you have any ideas for subconscious? I lost my 19 year old son to suicide in 2011 and I walked in and found him. I fight pretty good when I am awake but my sleep is something else. I've woken to no pillows or sheets from all my moving around in my sleep. Any ideas?
Lee that must have been so hard. You are kind and brave.
May I ask what thoughts and images are coming up?
“I fight pretty good when I am awake”
“I fight” there’s the problem.
Check out ACT it can help you lay down the 🥊 🥊 gloves
All the suggestions are exposure therapy. Not running from but facing up. Prescribing the symptom really. It is interesting how it all comes from behaviorism, which was pretty compassionless in the beginning.