This webinar introduces concepts of experiential avoidance and behavioral avoidance. Learners will explore skills for strengthening the Open Pillar of Psychological Flexibility. This work is challenging for many new to FACT because of clinical habits encouraging diagnosis and emphasis on symptom management and elimination. Psychological suffering is inevitable in life, and skills that promote openness to pain reduce unnecessary suffering in people of all ages. In a demonstration and subsequent role-play exercises, participants will use the Name, Notice, Soften, Let Go, Expand Worksheet to try phrases that help people experience difficult feelings and thoughts and relate to them in new ways. Also, they will be invited to participate in some interesting experiential exercises, including Horse Stance and The Skies the Limit game.

Objectives

After the webinar, participants will be able to:

1. Define experiential avoidance.
2. Define behavioral avoidance.
3. List five areas of conversation that may be used to help clients experience greater openness to painful thoughts and feelings.
4. Use the Name, Notice, Soften, Let go, Expand Phrases worksheet (NNS-Lg-E) to try new phrases in simulated clinical conversations.
5. Generate a powerful statement of self-compassion to use toward the self.
6. Generate a metaphor or simple phrase to promote the experience of an observational distance with a difficult thought or feeling.