Welcome to ACT taking hurt to hope. We are going to start a series of programs examening the six act process seen to be critical to helping people to become psychologically flexible when challenges arise. These processes for flexibilty are: being in the present moment, taking steps in valued directions, acceptance of what ‘is’, a word called ‘defusion’ meaning to become aware that you have thoughts but are not your thoughts so de fusing yourself from your thoughts, Committed action or persistency and last but not least something called ‘self as context. Self as context and being in the and now which simply means the noticing that there is a YOU that observes thoughts coming, feelings coming and going as well as sensations arising and falling. This YOU is always larger than any of the content of the mind, i e thoughts, feelings sensations.

Todays guest is an ACT expert and one who has spent a considerable amount of her life examining this question of ‘self as context. Dr Lindsay Fletcher, Lindsay Fletcher Hardie is a post-doctoral fellow at the Counseling Center at University of Nevada, Reno. She completed her doctoral training with Steve Hayes, the founder of ACT, and has focused on integrating formal mindfulness practice with ACT protocols.