Objectives ~ Define psychological flexibility ~ Explore how to apply psychological flexibility ~ Identify the shortcut question What is Psychological Flexibility ~ The willingness to accept things as they are in the moment and make a conscious choice to act with effective purpose choosing behaviors, thoughts and feelings that move you toward a rich and meaningful life. Clarifying the Destination Values & Goals ~ Clarifying ~ Relationships: Who is most important to you? ~ Which people? ~ What do you want those relationships to be like? ~ What events, things, experiences are meaningful to you? ~ Work ~ Health ~ Personal Growth Clarifying cont… ~ Values ~ What values do I want to embody (Choose 5)? Psychological Flexibility Destination Happiness Psychological Flexibility Defining the Destination Psychological Flexibility: Awareness Psychological Flexibility Autopilot/Negative Bias Example Psychological Flexibility Summary STEP 1: It is what it is. Becoming Mindful ~ Fly on the Wall / Data /Scientist ~ Curious ~ Objective ~ Nonjudgmental Mindfulness in the Present Moment Awareness of What Is ~ Bringing full awareness to your here-and-now experience ~ How do I feel? ~ What are my thoughts, wants and urges? ~ What physical sensations am I experiencing? Note: These are probably mostly the Autopilot/Negative Bias sensations Mindfulness in the Present Moment Awareness of What Is ~ Bringing full awareness to your here-and-now experience continued… ~ Getting into the “rational (reasonable) mind” (Distress tolerance) ~ Describe the environment—smell, temperature, colors, objects, people, sounds, etc… ~ I (see, hear, smell) ______ It reminds me of _____ ~ Identify alternate thoughts, feeling and actions that you could use to address the issue that would get you closer to your goals. Step 2: Acceptance ~ Make room for unpleasant feelings, sensations, urges ~ Allow them to come and go without running from them or giving them undue attention. Step 3: Unhooking Thoughts and Behaviors ~ Cognitive diffusion means: ~ “Stepping back” and recognizing that thoughts are just temporary, automatic events ~ Perceiving thoughts, images, and memories as bits of language, and pictures—as opposed to what they can appear to be—threatening events, objective truths (Example: Nightmares) ~ Unhooking: Thoughts/feelings don’t always have to lead to action Unhooking Activity ~ Think of a behavior that you “automatically” do when you get stressed or angry. ~ Drink/use drugs ~ Self injure ~ Withdraw ~ Lash out ~ How can you take a pause to become mindful and make an informed, committed decision (Hint: These will become TOWARD behaviors later) Unhooking Thoughts and Behaviors ~ Here’s a simple exercise in unhooking: ~ Think of a negative behavior. “I need to X” “I need to have a pizza.” ~ Think about it. Believe it as much as you can. ~ Notice how it affects you. ~ Now insert the phrase “I’m having the thought that….” in front of “I need to X.” ~ Think about it. ~ Notice what happens. Unhooking Thoughts and Behaviors ~ Here’s a simple exercise in unhooking: ~ Think of a negative self-judgment that takes the form “I am X” such as “I’m stupid.” ~ Think about it. Believe it as much as you can. ~ Notice how it affects you. ~ Now insert the phrase “I’m having the thought that….” in front of “I am X.” ~ Think about it. ~ Notice what happens. Applying ~ Once you have ~ Observed ~ Accepted ~ Unhooked ~ Then you are more able to sort through your thoughts and feelings an