A necessary listen

I was sceptical as an accredited CBT practitioner I was sceptical about ACT. In my opinion ACT includes interventions that good CBT practitioners use anyway. If thought challenging is not working then moving towards a more acceptance based approach for instance.

I have to say that there is more to it than that. There is something very “open source” about the ACT approach which I like. CBT has been commercialised and the Beck’s have a lot to answer for in that regard.

I still feel that ACT is closer to CBT than it likes to admit but I see the necessity of creating a therapy in itself. So that research and progress in the field can continue.

Psychological or cognitive flexibility will always be at the forefront of my mind when Treating My patients. It always has. I did not need ACT to tell me that. But I did need this book and the work related to it to formalise it so that I’m not just taking shots in the dark or even worse, brute forcing interventions that aren’t helping.

Read with a willingness. Open up to your experience and most of all be flexible my friends.

10 people found this helpful

It’s time to ACT

Dr Hayes has distilled a lifetime of research and experience into this audiobook. The result is a resource which is easy to digest, but also challenging in all the right places. I highly recommended “A Liberated Mind” for anyone seeking to explore ACT for the first time, or for those who currently practice and would like to invest in their learning.

8 people found this helpful

Outstanding - invaluable guidance for living in modern times

One of the best books that I have ever read. Practical guidance validated by controlled studies. You do not get better than this. Would recommend for anyone

5 people found this helpful

A classic

This is a classic and deserves a place on the bookshelves (or in the Audible downloads) of all and any psychologist, counsellor, as well as any lay person suffering with anxiety or depression. Whether you've benefited from ACT before or are new to it, this book is a comprehensive and updated guide.

There are both engaging stories and also exercises to do. I also went on to get the paperback as I wanted a hardcopy to refer to again and again. It lives on my bedside table. The ACT in this book has allowed me to make actual real changes in my life, has given me to the tools to overcome fears and procrastination that were crippling me.

I only wish Dr Steven Hayes had narrated it himself as his delivery is so engaging and soulful (check out his Ted Talks!) but Mark Deakins also does a good job.

5 people found this helpful

Ok though overly long

This book is well meaning and there are some useful exercises in it. Many of them will not be new to those who have looked into mindfulness etc before. I did feel though it was unnecessarily long with a lot of chapters essentially being “studies show that ACT is also good for x...”. The introductory chapter itself is about 5 hours! The audiobook would benefit from a short accompanying pdf which includes the main exercises, or perhaps the paper version of the book would be a more appropriate format.

4 people found this helpful

Prepare for the barage of acronyms!!!

This book could seriously help the masses I ponder, the trouble is it is not written in a language for the masses. Hard going at times and often feeling like a professors notebook and reading list, this book misses the mark for me. The heavy use of codes, and acronyms made me feel this book should of come with its own enigma code cracker, I still have some faith in the principles of ACT due to it's advertised success; but this book is sadly not a positive advert for the principle.

4 people found this helpful

brilliant, grounded, applicable approach to change

I'm a huge reader of psychology and self help books and this is one of the best I've read. it is a lot of information and takes time to get through, but digs deep into the schools and research behind these methods, case studies, data/results. it then provides individual examples of people applying the methods, as well as teaching several exercises in each area, and finally discusses the use of ACT in very specific life challenges such as chronic illness and even in an Ebola outbreak.

1 person found this helpful

Great introduction to the topic

Recommended to get a wider idea with examples about ACT. The narration is clear.

Beautiful model and approach

This is intelligent spirituality spoken about
in the language of psychotherapy. Steven Hayes has made an absolutely massive contribution to society with ACT. Truly worth
familiarising yourself with.