The Essential Guide to the ACT Matrix: A Step-by-step Approach to Using the ACT Matrix Model in Clinical Practice

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New Harbinger Publications, 2016 - Medical - 275 pages

The ACT Matrix revolutionized contextual behavioral science. Now, the creators of this pioneering new model present the first detailed, step-by-step guide to help professionals implement the ACT Matrix in clinical practice and improve clients' psychological flexibility.

If you're a clinician, you know that acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is extremely effective in helping clients who are "stuck" in unhealthy thought patterns by encouraging them align their values with their thoughts and actions. However, the ACT model is complex, and it's not always easy to use. Enter the ACT Matrix, a seamless fusion of the six core processes of the ACT hexaflex--cognitive defusion, acceptance, contact with the present moment, observing the self, values, and committed action--into a simplified, easy-to-apply approach.

From the editors of The ACT Matrix, The Essential Guide to the ACT Matrix offers professionals a comprehensive guide to using the innovative Matrix model in-session. With this book, you'll learn how to help your clients break free from painful psychological traps and live more meaningful lives. You'll also learn how client actions and behavior should be viewed as workable or unworkable, rather than good or bad. Most importantly, you'll discover how this unique approach can be used to deliver ACT more effectively in a variety of settings and contexts, even when clients are resistant or unmotivated to participate.

This book is essential for any ACT clinician looking to simplify their therapeutic approach in client sessions.

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About the author (2016)

Kevin L. Polk, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who has been a practicing for twenty-six years, primarily helping veterans and others with troubling trauma memories. For the past eleven years, he has dedicated himself to the study of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT)--spending close to 27,000 hours studying the philosophy and theory behind ACT, and learning and designing ACT interventions. He is passionate about teaching others how to use the ACT Matrix to increase psychological flexibility and valued living. Find out more at www.drkevinpolk.com. Fabian O. Olaz, PsyD, is adjunct professor in clinical psychology and psychotherapies, and researcher and director of the Interpersonal Behavior Laboratory in the faculty of psychology at the National University of Córdoba in Argentina. He is an ACT and functional analytic psychotherapy supervisor and psychotherapist at the Integral Center of Contextual Psychotherapy (CIPCO), and a recognized trainer in Argentina, Brazil, and other South American countries.

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