Adapting ACT for Brief Interventions
ACT as a Brief InterventionSo you may be wondering, you know, how do we apply ACT as a Brief Intervention with really complex issues and clients who have multiple problems different areas of life. And the first thing we need to do is make the hexaflex a whole lot simpler. So one of the things we want to do is crunch the hexaflex down into something that I like to call the TriFlex. And I like to call it that because it sounds so much cooler than the triangle.
The TriFlex you will see has got three overarching processes, be present, open up and do what matters. And each time we see the client, we wanna do a brief intervention from just one of these overarching processes. So being present, that's kinda anything to do with contacting the present moment, focusing attention, refocusing attention after it wanders, grounding and centering. Open up. That's kind of crunching together acceptance and diffusion, so anything that's about opening up and making room for our thoughts and our feelings, allowing them to flow through us without getting swept to weigh by them, or without getting into a battle with them, and do what matters.
So this is using our values to guide effective actions. And each time we see the client, we aim to just give one tool technique strategy from just one point on the TriFlex. Then if we get to see the client a second time, we give them a strategy from another point. And if we're lucky enough to see them a third time, then we give them a strategy from the third point. So we're not trying to give the client a detailed in-depth overview of the whole ACT model.
We're trying to give them some really simple strategies, but powerful strategies that they can start applying straight away to make a difference.