Psychological Flexibility: Q&A session

This is a recording of the live online Psychological Flexibility Q&A session, originally run on 26th June, 2024. Facilitated by Dr. Richard MacKinnon, the session was designed to answer podcast listeners' questions about our recent episodes about ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Theory) and how to develop Psychological Flexibility.
In this session, Richard answers questions about:
- How ACT compares with cognitive-behavioural coaching approaches
- The role of our self-talk
- Use of ACT with groups like parents dealing with challenging circumstances
- The role of reflective thinking in dealing with labels
- How ACT taught in schools and universities could be a positive development
FIND OUT MORE
Visit our Psychological Flexibility resources page here: www.workifepsych.com/psycholo...
Check out the other podcast episodes in this series here: www.worklifepsych.com/podcast
Find out more about Richard here: / richardmackinnon
Thanks for watching!

[@maryf5475]

I am so sorry I was unable to attend and submit a question. I am curious, how does one apply this skill to having done things in their past that went against their values. There were circumstances that led them to do what they did and those things have been corrected. How does one move forward without the negative self talk of ‘you should have known better’ or ‘what were you thinking’ that keeps playing over and over in their head. Thanks.

[@WorkLifePsych]

Thanks for watching and thanks for the question. This is a common topic in coaching, especially when we've made a mistake a work, taken our anger out on a colleague, or any other of the many ways we can act outside of our most important values.
Regrets are thoughts about the past, so noting them as simply memories can be used as a defusion approach. When the thoughts pop up, it’s a matter of labelling them as “memories”, neither good nor bad, which don’t help guide us in the present moment.
There are two broad ways of revisiting the past - either to learn from it and change how we do things, which I’d refer to as ‘reflection’, or to simply relive negative experiences and all the emotions that comes from them, which is generally called ‘rumination’. Noticing the difference between the two allows us to identify valuable (even painful) lessons from the past, draw a line under it, and commit to more helpful behaviours in the future.
The discomfort that comes from acting outside our values is natural - and reaffirms that the values are important to us. So one way of thinking about this is that the discomfort is part of having values and a valuable learning point for how to put these values into practice in the here and now. We can’t take action in the past, nor in the future - just in this present moment.
Which brings me to the final point I raise with clients - all of this is made easier by working on present moment awareness (mindful focus in the here and now) to be able to anchor themselves in the present, and minimise unhelpful mental time travel to the past.
Hope this makes sense - and it's a topic I'll be elaborating on in the final episode of this series.
Thanks for watching!