nick clark's blog

I'm about halfway through my Master's in Counseling program at Webster University in St. Louis, MO (U.S.). ACT, along with Existential influences, is my theoretical orientation. I was wondering if anyone out there who is also in graduate school and subscribes to ACT theory has encountered the absolute weirdness that this brings. That is to say, that ACT runs against many traditional therapies, including aspects of CBT. However, ACT seems to really run counter to psychodynamic theory in case conceptualization, theory of psychopathology, and many other aspects.

I am currently reading The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy by Dahl, et al. Thus far (about halfway through it), it has been very accessible and engaging. It provides a nice synopsis of RFT as well as the basic tenets of ACT and does well to clarify different types of cognitive fusion, which would seem to be a helpful way of conceptualizing fusion with clients (or with ourselves). I would recommend this book to anyone interested in ACT, though like with most ACT books, it is highly advisable to read the original ACT book (Hayes, Strosahl, & Wilson, 1999) before you do so.