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    A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters
    Unavailable
    A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters
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    A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters
    Audiobook14 hours

    A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters

    Written by Steven C. Hayes, PhD

    Narrated by Steven C. Hayes, PhD and Mark Deakins

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    "In all my years studying personal growth, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is one of the most useful tools I've ever come across, and in this book, Dr. Hayes describes it with more depth and clarity than ever before."-Mark Manson, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck

    Life is not a problem to be solved. ACT shows how we can live full and meaningful lives by embracing our vulnerability and turning toward what hurts.

    In this landmark book, the originator and pioneering researcher into Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) lays out the psychological flexibility skills that make it one of the most powerful approaches research has yet to offer. These skills have been shown to help even where other approaches have failed. Science shows that they are useful in virtually every area--mental health (anxiety, depression, substance abuse, eating disorders, PTSD); physical health (chronic pain, dealing with diabetes, facing cancer); social processes (relationship issues, prejudice, stigma, domestic violence); and performance (sports, business, diet, exercise).

    How does psychological flexibility help? We struggle because the problem-solving mind tells us to run from what causes us fear and hurt. But we hurt where we care. If we run from a sense of vulnerability, we must also run from what we care about. By learning how to liberate ourselves, we can live with meaning and purpose, along with our pain when there is pain.

    Although that is a simple idea, it resists our instincts and programming. The flexibility skills counter those ingrained tendencies. They include noticing our thoughts with curiosity, opening to our emotions, attending to what is in the present, learning the art of perspective taking, discovering our deepest values, and building habits based around what we deeply want.

    Beginning with the epiphany Steven Hayes had during a panic attack, this book is a powerful narrative of scientific discovery filled with moving stories as well as advice for how we can put flexibility skills to work immediately. Hayes shows how allowing ourselves to feel fully and think freely moves us toward commitment to what truly matters to us. Finally, we can live lives that reflect the qualities we choose.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Audio
    Release dateAug 27, 2019
    ISBN9780525640738
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for A Liberated Mind

    4/5

    37 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      There is so much to learn about psychological flexibility and improving one's mental health from this well written and very readable book. There author helps the reader to promote mental wellness, using pivot points to control the anxious mind, shift perspectives, focus on the present, connecting with core values and creating habits of positive change. I intend to revisit this work and keep it with my most useful self help books. Highly recommended.
    • 4/5
      I won this book through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers group.

      For some reason I didn’t expect it to be quite this large of a guide! I am glad though, because the author dives into details you may not otherwise gain. Read this like a manual, it is here to change the way you consider, or at least consider something different. I do find it interesting how it is similar and different from other therapies I have experienced. The author clearly believes in this method, and puts his heart into the writing.
    • 4/5
      In this accessible, interesting exploration of ACT, Hayes delineates the difference between ACT and other therapies and then carefully lays out the essential components of ACT. The goal of ACT is to increase an individual’s psychological flexibility by learning to turn towards pain and discomfort in order to live a more meaningful, purpose-filled life. I worked through the book slowly and at times felt it would be better to do with a trained professional, however what I did learn helped bring some ease to my life during a stressful time. If you are interested in exploring a different way of being in the world which involves learning to think and act differently, I highly recommend this book.
    • 4/5
      I am the queen of self help books. Some are helpful, some not so much. I found this one quite helpful. I like that it's broken down simply and in ways that allows anyone to follow it and use the program. I suggest that you take your time with it. Do not read it like a novel. I found it most helpful to highlight and make notes as I went along to better be able to go back to different exercises.

      *I received an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review* (less)
    • 3/5
      This is a thoughtful and well-written book. Dr. Hayes identifies how we can get stuck in harmful patterns and provides six alternatives he calls pivots to move toward change. His style is practical and comforting, and offers hope to people who want to introduce change in their lives.
    • 3/5
      A very in-depth and structured book by a psychologist focusing on dealing with problems and challenges we all face in our lives. The foundation is based on the ACT principles of confronting and working through these difficulties.

      The author relates his own challenges in his childhood and confronting his anxiety issues that led to much of the work and ideas expressed in the book. He takes each aspect of working toward a resolution starting with the principle of acceptance. From there other steps are added in this process.

      I have to be honest in my assessment that I struggled through the material here as I found it quite immersed in an academic type presentation and the related jargon. The method itself I am sure will be useful and constructive to those who take on the process, and work through it to their benefit.

      The concluding chapters dealt with specific application of the method which I found a bit more practical as some of the topics discussed had meaning in my life. In general as with any constructive approach to problem acceptance and resolution value in taking action stands as the first and most important step.
    • 4/5
      Dr. Hayes has written an excellent book about a method of therapy he pioneered called ACT (spoken, according to the author, as "act", not by spelling out A.C.T.). ACT is an acronym for Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, a method which I have already been practicing through meditation and other spiritual exercises--to me, ACT parallels a group of contemplative practices but minus the spiritual underlying context. He explains the inspiration for his developing this form of therapy and offers test results and simple exercises to get readers started. Since I already use many of the tools Dr. Hayes teaches in this book, I want to give it five stars, but his constant declarations of how superior ACT is to other forms of therapy put me off, hence the lower rating. I believe that not every technique works for everyone, and that alternative therapies may well work better for some people.
    • 5/5
      Can say that I was really looking forward to reading this book. I have worked in the field of counseling as a mental health therapist for years. I am familiar with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), but have not used it. I have been considering doing so and was looking forward to reading this book to gain additional insight in ACT before making any decisions to be trained in this approach. I was more than satisfied with this book. I love how the book was laid out and how the reader is taken through the history of ACT as well as developing the concept of the theory at the same time. I like that the Author Steven C. Hayes, PhD discussed how his personal life plays into the development of ACT. This book really did do it all for me: history of mental health theories, the development of ACT, current research, personal connection, core elements, interventions, and even discussion on personal application designed for each individual who reads the book. Examples like anxiety, diabetes, and religion/spiritual well-being. I have been teaching some of this material for years, but the author does a much better job at presenting the material in a clear and understandable way. It touched on things that I never thought of and I will be utilizing in the future as I continue to work with the mental health community. Despite focusing on the principles of ACT, this book is not a text book on how to do ACT Treatment. This is more of a self-help book to bring ACT principles directly to the average reader who is seeking to improve their lives. I will definitely apply it to my personal life. I have reviewed several books and given them 4 or 5 stars. I would rate many of them differently based on the quality of this book. It set a high standard. I mostly read a book once and then put it away. I like/dislike the concept, expand my thinking and move on. I can say that; I will be reading this book multiple times. “A Liberated Mind” has added to my quality of life. If you are looking to step away from your thoughts, take an outside view so you can use your mind as it is supposed to be used, this is the book for you.
    • 2/5
      I think the genre would be "self-help," but even as a healthcare professional, I found it more text bookish. I wondered if it would appeal to the general public. I did not finish it for that reason.
    • 5/5
      Part self-help book, part research report, Steven C Hayes' A Liberated Mind is an accessible summary of Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT) for the lay reader. ACT was developed by Dr. Hayes as a model for increasing psychological health, or flexibility, over his decades-long career. A Liberated Mind presents the story of that development. Sections include an introduction to ACT, descriptions of the ACT tools and techniques, and applications of the model for the adoption of healthy behaviors, improvement of mental health, nurturance of relationships, increased work performance, enhanced spiritual wellbeing, and coping with illness and disability. There is also a chapter describing how ACT principles informed the solution to an international public health situation. This book is recommended for readers who are familiar with applications of psychological research and who want to explore ACT for personal or professional growth. It can be used in the classroom to train counselors, and it can be used by clinicians as a complement to individual or group therapy.
    • 4/5
      This book has some good ideas and they are referenced well. The book espouses the ideas that "the world is as it is". We have to accept the fact that there will be good days and bad days. We can't change that but we can change how we accept life on its own terms. It compliments my meditation practice in that we let things come, let things be, and then let things go. Our thoughts are not who we are. They are just thoughts. The book gives us skills to learn to live with the mind that is always chattering away and to just notice what is going on and to live in the present.
    • 5/5
      This book and this method are helping me a lot. I did not expect that. I got the book from Library Thing Early Reviewers as an advance copy. Nothing else really interested me on their list that month so I figured, "Why not?" I do see it for what it is, which is lots of good, proven ideas from different sources, put together as one by one psychologist and packaged as a new idea. I get that. However, it's working for me. Generally, I like when someone who knows more than I do about something and has the time, puts something together for me. You kind of have to wade through some stories to get to things sometimes. Almost like a too chatty but helpful friend or coworker. (I'm not criticizing. I'm too chatty myself but hopefully helpful). He gives some good strategies to deal with things I'm actually dealing with, and it's working. Right away too.