Includes bibliographical references and index

The problem and the approach. The dilemma of human suffering ; The underlying assumptions of the psychological mainstream ; The assumption of destructive normality -- The philosophical and theoretical foundations of ACT. Why the level of technique is not adequate ; The need for philosophy ; Functional contextualism ; Relational frame theory and rule governance: The view of language underlying ACT ; Summary: Implications of functional contextualism, rule governance, and relational frame theory -- The ACT model of psychopathology and human suffering. The system that traps people ; The pervasiveness of experiential avoidance ; The destructive effects of experiential avoidance ; When experiential avoidance can't work ; How humans get drawn into a struggle ; ACT: Accept, choose, take action ; ACT as a contextual cognitive-behavioral therapy ; Concluding remarks ; A personal exercise for therapists -- Creative hopelessness: challenging the normal change agenda. Theoretical focus ; Clinical focus ; Informed consent ; Drawing out the system ; Confronting the system: Creative hopelessness ; Barriers to giving up the unworkable system ; Letting go of the struggle as an alternative ; Therapeutic do's and don'ts ; Progress to the next phase ; Personal work for the clinician ; Clinical vignette ; Appendix: Client homework -- Control is the problem, not the solution. Theoretical focus ; Clinical focus ; Giving the struggle a name: Control is the problem ; How emotional control is learned ; Examine the apparent success of control ; The alternative to control: Willingness ; The cost of unwillingness ; Therapeutic do's and don'ts ; Progress to the next stage ; Personal work for the clinician: Is control the problem? ; Clinical vignette ; Appendix: Client homework -- Building acceptance by defusing language. Theoretical focus ; Clinical focus ; Attacking the arrogance of words ; Deliteralizing language ; Undermining reasons as causes ; Disrupting troublesome language practices ; Evaluation versus description ; Willingness: The goal of deliteralization ; Therapeutic do's and don'ts ; Progress to the next stage ; Personal exercise for the clinician: Your views of yourself ; Clinical vignette ; Appendix: Client homework -- Discovering self, defusing self. The theoretical focus: Varieties of self ; Clinical focus ; Undermining attachment to the conceptualized self ; Building awareness of the observing self ; Experiential exercises with the observing self ; Therapeutic do's and don'ts ; Progress to the next phase ; Personal work for the clinician: Is your self getting in the way? ; Clinical vignette -- Valuing. Theoretical focus ; Clinical focus ; Valuing: A point on the compass ; Outcome is the process through which process becomes the outcome ; Values clarification: Setting the compass heading ; Assessment of values, goals, actions, and barriers ; Willingness to have barriers and barriers to willingness ; Therapeutic do's and don'ts ; Progress to the next phase ; Personal work for the clinician: Taking a direction ; Clinical vignette -- Willingness and commitment: putting ACT into action. The client's quandary and the way out ; Theoretical focus ; Clinical focus ; Experiential qualities of applied willingness ; Reconnecting with values, goals, and actions ; Committed action as a process ; Committed action invites obstacles ; A map for the journey: FEAR and ACT ; Primary barriers to committed action ; ACT as a behavior therapy ; Termination and relapse prevention ; Therapeutic do's and don'ts ; Personal work for the clinician: committed action ; Clinical vignette ; Appendix: Client homework -- The effective ACT therapeutic relationship. Positive leverage points in ACT ; Negative leverage points in ACT ; The therapeutic relationship ; Summary -- ACT in context. The relevance of ACT in the 21st century