ACT With Compassion

In an ACT approach to shame, rather than trying to reduce or eliminate shame, psychological acceptance techniques encourage clients to notice shame and other difficult feelings more fully, while reducing their conditioned link to problematic action, such as avoidance behavior. Negative self-judgments such as "I'm damaged goods" or "I am broken" are addressed by cognitive defusion: noticing the process of thinking, letting go of attachment to the literal content of thoughts, responding to thoughts in terms of the workability of behavior tied to them, and then shifting attention toward values-based actions. In this workshop, participants will have the opportunity to observe and experience a variety of defusion, acceptance, mindfulness, and perspective-taking interventions designed to target shame and self-criticism.

The workshop will provide an overview of how shame and self-criticism can keep clients stuck in unworkable patterns of behavior and how this literature informs interventions for chronic self-criticism and shame. Therapists will have an opportunity to experience various ACT and self-compassion exercises in relation to their own tendencies toward self-criticism or shame. Therapists can expect to walk away with an increased experiential and practical understanding of how to use acceptance, mindfulness, perspective-taking, and values interventions with clients suffering from chronic shame and self-criticism.        

For more information or to sign up, go to: seattlecompassion1.eventbrite.com