ACT for OCD: The Function of the Behavior and Creative Hopelessness
Key Points
- Creative hopelessness assists in understanding the function of behaviors.
- Everything you do is guided by the information gathered during the exercise.
- After the exercise, highlight important aspects of the information gathered.
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Transcript
Now, we’ll continue on from the concept of creative hopelessness that was introduced in the last module.
So, because ACT is a behavior analytic therapy, it’s important to understand the function of the client’s behavior before you continue on with treatment. And the exercise in the last module, creative hopelessness, helped you do just that. So when you go through this exercise with someone and after, it’s helpful to truly treat this as an exploratory exercise.
Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25.,Twohig, M. P. (2004). ACT for OCD: Abbreviated treatment manual [Unpublished treatment manual]. University of Nevada.
The reason for this is that you don’t know the client’s experience with their thoughts and their emotions. And if you make assumptions, it may feel like you have an end goal that you want them to get to. And they might start to feel like there’s a right or wrong answer for them to give you.
Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25.,Twohig, M. P. (2004). ACT for OCD: Abbreviated treatment manual [Unpublished treatment manual]. University of Nevada.