ACT for Zombies

The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy people try not to take each other too seriously. Each year at the main ACT conference--the Association for Behavioral Contextual Science--they hold a "Follies night" where people poke fun aat ACT and some of the key ACT people. Created by Joe Oliver and Eric Morris, this video was unveiled at the most recent conference.

WARNING: There's some graphic violence, so it's not for the faint-hearted!

Watch the wide-screen version on YouTube.

Sesame Street: Monster in the Mirror

I discovered this Sesame Street clip after a therapist posted it on a professional listserv. As the poster noted, it's a clever illustration of the ease that can come from accepting parts of us that we experience judgment towards. I'd like to thank Jonathan Kandell for sharing it!

Living with Your Fears

A friend sent me a link to the cartoon below at 9GAG. I think it's a cute illustration of mindful acceptance.

http://9gag.com/gag/99399/

The Unwelcome Party Guest

This animated short by Joe Oliver illustrates a popular metaphor from the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy literature. I've heard the metaphor called "Joe the Bum" and "Aunt Edna"--here the uninvited guest is "Brian." (Also, my name!--there are any number of self-deprecatory comments I can insert here.)

The metaphor is used to illustrate the practice of acceptance or (in ACT terms) willingness.

Prickles and Goo

Today I'm offering something on the lighter side.

This video provides a cute illustration of some of the tensions that can build between those approaching mindfulness from an empirical standpoint and those who approach it more traditionally. That said, I think there's a little bit of prickles and a little bit of goo in all of us.

The narration is a clip of Alan Watts. Watts had a profound impact on the West in making Buddhism, particularly Zen, accessible to the English-speaking world. Watts published The Spirit of Zen in 1936 and continued to speak and publish until his death in 1973. The animation is by South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.