Sunday 20 November 2011

ACT explained by The Eels

connecting with the present moment, defusion, and values - all in one song by The Eels - here

Wednesday 16 November 2011

Mo-taphor

There are many great metaphors in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. But to the best of my knowledge this is the first Mo-taphor.

I'm growing a moustache as part of the Movember fundraiser for the battle against Prostate Cancer and Depression. Two great causes, and a great way to raise money. I grow a mo and look like a fool, and then people make a mo-nation in exchange for laughing at me and telling me how ridiculous I look. Feel free to laugh and donate here: www.mobro.co/camhs

While I've had beards in the past, this is my first ever Mo, and I must say having a mo forces me to practice all aspects of the ACT Hexaflex.
I need to defuse or hold lightly all those thoughts that keep telling me how foolish I look (and boy am I getting a lot of those) and make space for all those feelings of embarrassment, letting the emotions be there without struggling against them. I have to be present to all the feelings, sensations and especially the itches and scratches that are happening below my nose and above my lip (today a client laughed at me because I was absentmindedly playing with my mo while she spoke). I can view all my thoughts from the 'observing self', I am no more my thoughts than I am Magnum PI, but I will listen to either if they are helpful. And despite all these unhelpful thoughts and emotions, I can take steps towards my value of supporting charities that do good work.

That's one hell of a thought-provoking mo

Tuesday 15 November 2011

thoughts about thoughts adapted from Dr Seuss

one thought two thoughts red thought blue thought
black thought blue thought old thought new thought.

some are red and some are blue. some are old and some are new.
some are sad and some are glad. And some are very, very bad.
Why are they sad and glad and bad? I dont know. Go ask your dad.

Some say thin and some say fat. Some don't even like my hat.
From there to here, from here to there, funny thoughts everywhere.
Here are some who call me dumb. They make me want to hide or run.

Oh me! Oh my!
Oh me! Oh my!
what a lot of thoughts go by.
Some are gentle and some cause pain.
Some go round and round again.

Where do they come from?
I can't say.
But they seem to have a lot to say.

We see them come.
We see them go.
Some are fast.
And some are slow.
Some are high.
And some are low

Not one of them is like another.
Don't as us why.
Go ask your mother.

Sunday 6 November 2011

prefection

wow, my last post was more prophetic than i'd expected. I promised to write a next column talking about how to manage sticky labels and then i didn't get around to it. not so much because i'm lazy, more because i put pressure on myself to be funny, eloquent, and original. It's a great goal, but the reality was less appealing. i became so worried about getting it all perfect that i ended up not finishing it. Actually, that's an exaggeration, i didn't even let myself start it because my mind kept generating unhelpful stories about how the column won't be good enough or funny enough or whatever. My mind would put me off doing anything in case it isn't everything. What if the column isn't spectacular and I don't get to be considered as great a writer as Russ Harris or Kelly Wilson? Then i might not get to be a writer and express my ideas and then I'll have to keep doing what i'm doing now and...

My brain has been so busy trying to protect me from failing that i've ended up not writing at all. and let's face it, doing nothing has got to be worse than possibly failing (especially when it's not really a competition).

so right now i'm going to thank my brain for trying to protect me from failing, let that thought be there and then go ahead and publish this post anyway.