It’s only the second week of the New Year, and many of us have already failed at (or given up on) achieving our New Year’s Resolutions. We often rely on sheer willpower to achieve these types of goals. However, willpower simply isn’t enough. On this week’s episode of Psychologists Off the Clock, Diana and Benjamin Schoendorff, co-author of The Essential Guide to the ACT Matrix and The ACT Practitioner’s Guide to the Science of Compassion, discuss the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) matrix. The matrix is a complex therapeutic tool used to help clients contact experiences which keep them from living in ways that serve their values. In this episode, Benjamin breaks down the ACT matrix in a way that is accessible for all. Grab a cup of coffee, and join us to learn, practice, and grow today!
Listen and Learn
- Diana and Yael’s take on the ACT matrix, what it is, and how it’s helped them to live in ways that serve their values
- Benji’s expert definition of psychological flexibility
- Some practical exercises you can use to become more psychologically flexible right now
- Benji’s breakdown of each quadrant in the matrix and what they represent
- About Diana’s personal experience working through the matrix
- How the ACT matrix can be helpful for couples, parents, organizations, achieving New Years Resolutions, and much more!
- What the “Dead Man Rule” is and how it might be impacting your mental health
- Why values are often more important than willpower when it comes to achieving your goals
- What ‘loops’ and ‘hooks’ are and how we get stuck in them (and how to behave in service of your values instead!)
- Benji’s personal explanation of how moving through the ACT matrix influenced his spiritual practice
Resources
- Books Benji co-authored, The Essential Guide to the ACT Matrix : A Step-by-Step Approach to Using the Act Matrix Model in Clinical Practice and The ACT Practitioner’s Guide to the Science of Compassion: Tools for Fostering Psychological Flexibility Paperback – Illustrated, December 1, 2014
- Connect with The Contextual Psychology Institute
- Read more on what the ACT matrix is (and see what it looks like) here: https://contextualscience.org/act_matrix
- Register for Diana’s free, weekly meditation course here: https://drdianahill.com/tuesday-teachings/
- Sign up for POTC’s First Annual Wise Minds Summit: How to Adapt and Thrive in Today’s Challenging Times
About Benjamin Schoendorff
Benjamin Schoendorff is a licensed psychologist and international trainer living near Montreal. Benji has a passion for helping people get unstuck and move toward valued living and travels the world over to train clinicians from all backgrounds in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). In addition to his clinical and training practice, he currently researches ACT in the treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder as part of the Montreal university mental health institute.
As an author and trainer, Benji is renowned for his down-to-earth, authentic, relationship-centered and deeply compassionate style. He believes effective science-based methods to get unstuck are too precious to remain confined to academia and has made it his life mission to disseminate them in an engaging and easily accessible way. Simple, but not simplistic. Benji dreams of a scientific psychology in the service of spreading love, peace and understanding.
He has written books and chapters in French and English including co-authoring The Essential Guide to the ACT Matrix and The ACT Practitioner’s Guide to the Science of Compassion.
Related Episodes
- Episode 116. Building a Meaningful, Values-based Life with Dr. Jenna LeJeune
- Episode 102. A Liberated Mind with Dr. Steven Hayes
- Episode 167. Get Curious and Change Unhealthy Habits with Dr. Judson Brewer
- Episode 77. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Dr. Jill Stoddard
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