Science and Ancient Ideas of What it Means to be Human: Exploring the Implicit Values Underlying ACT Steven C. Hayes University of Nevada

My Purpose My purpose is to consider what is implicit in ACT / RFT I will argue that while there are only a small set of explicit values in ACT, a wider range of values-like directions that can be derived based on what we are learning empirically And this larger set situates ACT and RFT in line with ancient perspectives on human nature and development

Values From an ACT perspective values are chosen qualities of ongoing patterns of action They are gerunds and adverbs, not nouns Like all gerunds and adverbs, they are manifest in an ongoing way – they cannot be obtained like an object

Values It is important to keeping track of our language games here – many of these ways of speaking are clinical, not scientific Values talk is very dominantly clinical so we have to reexamine this definitional issue before we proceed

Values Scientifically, choice does not literally mean free choice – it means without verbal defense and justification Scientifically, “without verbal defense and justification” means that we are not dealings with means to ends, but with ends themselves

Values It is often said that science does not contain values For a contextualistic science that is impossible, since what’s true is what works and what works is with reference to a stated direction Thus there must be values in ACT / RFT and they must be explicit

Values And it has been said that the main difference between science and religion is that religion can specify its values a priori And that seems correct, except for those needed to mount science itself We have been quite clear about this in ACT / RFT from the beginning

ACT Values The primary explicit value of this kind is “prediction and influence with precision, scope, and depth” This is a value: it is an ongoing pursuit and it will never be obtained, but it can be instantiated And it cannot be defended – this is one of those things that is done by declaration and it is not at stake in ACT / RFT simply because the originators of the position made that declaration

ACT Values But there is an even high value that that – namely the need for values themselves ACT is based on an aontological, contextualistic philosophy, which is why we can say things like “Thus there must be values in ACT / RFT and they must be explicit” But by extension this means that we value values – in science and any area linked to “truth”

ACT Values We cannot work with individuals, groups or institutions without doing so in the context of their and our values simply because we would have no way to know how we were doing If you do now know where you are going, you will not know if you are getting there

ACT Values That gives us two explicit values I see in ACT / RFT: Valuing values And valuing scientific knowing defined in terms of prediction and influence with precision, scope, and depth

ACT Values But these need a slight modification, and a core ACT concept explains why Psychological flexibility is changing or persisting in behavior in the service of chosen values, based on what the situation affords. ‘Based on what the situation affords” means “given the prevailing contingencies” and is a reference to the situated nature of effective action.

ACT Values In others words psychological flexibility is a kind of effectiveness: one that is values focused, and situated. It would be a contradiction in terms to value values without valuing the pursuit of values, thus effectiveness of this kind is directly suggested by a values based view of truth

ACT Values That gives us the entire set of the two or three explicit values I see in ACT / RFT: Valuing values Valuing effectiveness And valuing scientific knowing defined in terms of prediction and influence with precision, scope, and depth That’s it

Values But the concept of psychological flexibility begins to add something additional and if you see it, the door is opened to an expanded set of features of our approach Values are not means to ends But there are means that are so closely tied to ends that it is difficult to do one without the other

Values For example: health implies food and water. We similarly we label our term for effectiveness “psychological flexibility” because broad and flexible repertoires are needed to move in valued directions in a variety of situations. They are psychological food and water.

Values Once you see that, there is more to be said ACT has developed a set of categorical concepts that we are attempting to understand and to establish as a result of the empirical and conceptual work we have done In essence these concepts are related to how one establishes broad and flexible repertoires linked to values-based effectiveness

Values We need a term for these derived directions. I will call them here implicit values. They are ongoing qualities of patterns of action that foster and enable values. If chosen by clients they become values, pure and simple, but until then they are based on empirical relationships and they are not values in the full ACT sense of that term.

Implicit Values To explore these implicit values we will return to a familiar sight, which is nevertheless only about 3 year old (first promulgated on the listserve in March of 2003):

Psychological Flexibility The Current ACT Model

Implicit Values Two of the prime targets of ACT are acceptance and defusion -- we seek to promote contact with ones own experiences in the present moment and to bring the functions of literal, temporal, evaluative language under contextual control They flow from our work because the two biggest repertoire narrowing processes are argued to be experiential avoidance and cognitive fusion

Implicit Values So what does it mean to take an accepting, non-judgmental approach to your own life? In an important sense of the term we are talking about taking a loving and kind stance toward ones own experiences

Implicit Values Acceptance and compassion have always been defining features of love in the most general, “agape” sense of that term And in fact, the other aspects of the ACT model also fit with that same term Paying attention, now, in the moment Valuing the effectiveness of others

Implicit Values Love is an implicit value in our work, not because it is a scientific or philosophical a priori but because on empirical and conceptual grounds we find that it is “psychological food and water”

More Can be Said A pivot point for the expansion of this line of thinking is a transcendent sense of self We have argued in RFT that there are three senses of self: the conceptualized self, self as an ongoing process of knowing, and a transcendent sense of self that emerges from seeing that you see from a consistent context, namely I / HERE / NOW

Self Contingencies work by selecting invariants And we have argued that there are systematic invariants that help establish a sense of “I” as context for content Rainer Sonntag posted a neat graphical representation of the process

I eat breadI eat ice cream I eat a steak I eat chocolate I hear musicI hear a driving carI hear birds singingI hear my mother calling I see a deskI see you comingI see a bright futureI see and hear a dog I touch the screenI touch my faceI touch into the waterI touch the hot pan I go to my officeI go homeI go into the darkI go back to school I think of my workI think of your painI think of lunchtimeI think of my father I am goodI am badI am a husbandI am a doctor

I (you) eat breadI eat ice creamI eat a steakI eat chocolateI hear musicI hear a driving carI hear birds singingI hear my mother calling I see a deskI see you comingI see a bright futureI see and hear a dog I touch the screenI touch my faceI touch into the waterI touch the hot pan I go to my officeI go homeI go into the darkI go back to school I think of my workI think of your painI think of lunchtimeI think of my father I am goodI am badI am a husbandI am a doctor

I eat breadI eat ice creamI eat a steakI eat chocolateI hear musicI hear a driving carI hear birds singingI hear my mother callingI see a deskI see you comingI see a bright futureI see and hear a dog I touch the screenI touch my faceI touch into the waterI touch the hot pan I go to my officeI go homeI go into the darkI go back to school I think of my workI think of your painI think of lunchtimeI think of my father I am goodI am badI am a husbandI am a doctor

I eat breadI eat ice creamI eat a steakI eat chocolateI hear musicI hear a driving carI hear birds singingI hear my mother callingI see a deskI see you comingI see a bright futureI see and hear a dogI touch the screenI touch my faceI touch into the waterI touch the hot pan I go to my officeI go homeI go into the darkI go back to school I think of my workI think of your painI think of lunchtimeI think of my father I am goodI am badI am a husbandI am a doctor

I eat breadI eat ice creamI eat a steakI eat chocolateI hear musicI hear a driving carI hear birds singingI hear my mother callingI see a deskI see you comingI see a bright futureI see and hear a dogI touch the screenI touch my faceI touch into the waterI touch the hot panI go to my officeI go homeI go into the darkI go back to school I think of my workI think of your painI think of lunchtimeI think of my father I am goodI am badI am a husbandI am a doctor

I eat breadI eat ice creamI eat a steakI eat chocolateI hear musicI hear a driving carI hear birds singingI hear my mother callingI see a deskI see you comingI see a bright futureI see and hear a dogI touch the screenI touch my faceI touch into the waterI touch the hot panI go to my officeI go homeI go into the darkI go back to schoolI think of my workI think of your painI think of lunchtimeI think of my father I am goodI am badI am a husbandI am a doctor

I eat breadI eat ice creamI eat a steakI eat chocolateI hear musicI hear a driving carI hear birds singingI hear my mother callingI see a deskI see you comingI see a bright futureI see and hear a dogI touch the screenI touch my faceI touch into the waterI touch the hot panI go to my officeI go homeI go into the darkI go back to schoolI think of my workI think of your painI think of lunchtimeI think of my fatherI am goodI am badI am a husbandI am a doctor

I eat breadI eat ice creamI eat a steakI eat chocolateI hear musicI hear a driving carI hear birds singingI hear my mother callingI see a deskI see you comingI see a bright futureI see and hear a dogI touch the screenI touch my faceI touch into the waterI touch the hot panI go to my officeI go homeI go into the darkI go back to schoolI think of my workI think of your painI think of lunchtimeI think of my fatherI am goodI am badI am a husbandI am a doctor ContentContext

Importance and Implications This sense of self is key to acceptance and defusion because it is not content focused and thus is not threatened by or bound to specific experience A transcendent sense of self, we have argued, is a naturalistic form of spirituality Matter / Spirit and Thing / No-Thing

Spirituality So that seems to be another one: Spirituality Again, spirituality is in implicit value in our work, not because it is a scientific or philosophical a priori but because on empirical and conceptual grounds it appears to be “psychological food and water” It is necessary in supporting taking a loving and kind stance with oneself

Deictic Frames But there is a bit more here We hypothesis that this sense of self emerged also from deictic frames We now know that seems to be the case Deictic frames are bidirectional It is not just I but I/YOU; Not just HERE but HERE/THERE; Not just NOW but NOW/THEN

Deictic Frames What this means is that for humans to have a perspective on ones own experience it is necessary to have a perspective on the experience of others For a person to become conscious in this sense means they have to be able to begin to see the world from behind the eyes of others This changes Rainer’s exercise a bit

I (you) hear musicI (you) hear a driving carI (you) hear birds singingI (you) hear my mother calling I (you) see a deskI (you) see you comingI (you) see a bright futureI (you) see and hear a dog I (you) touch the screenI (you) touch my faceI (you) touch into the waterI (you) touch the hot pan I (you) go to my officeI (you) go homeI (you) go into the darkI (you) go back to school I (you) think of my workI (you) think of your painI (you) think of lunchtimeI (you) think of my father I (you) am goodI (you) am badI (you) am a husbandI (you) am a doctor

I (you) hear musicI (you) hear a driving carI (you) hear birds singingI (you) hear my mother calling I (you) see a deskI (you) see you comingI (you) see a bright futureI (you) see and hear a dog I (you) touch the screenI (you) touch my faceI (you) touch into the waterI (you) touch the hot pan I (you) go to my officeI (you) go homeI (you) go into the darkI (you) go back to school I (you) think of my workI (you) think of your painI (you) think of lunchtimeI (you) think of my father I (you) am goodI (you) am badI (you) am a husbandI (you) am a doctor

I (you) hear musicI (you) hear a driving carI (you) hear birds singingI (you) hear my mother calling I (you) see a deskI (you) see you comingI (you) see a bright futureI (you) see and hear a dog I (you) touch the screenI (you) touch my faceI (you) touch into the waterI (you) touch the hot pan I (you) go to my officeI (you) go homeI (you) go into the darkI (you) go back to school I (you) think of my workI (you) think of your painI (you) think of lunchtimeI (you) think of my father I (you) am goodI (you) am badI (you) am a husbandI (you) am a doctor

I (you) hear musicI (you) hear a driving carI (you) hear birds singingI (you) hear my mother callingI (you) see a deskI (you) see you comingI (you) see a bright futureI (you) see and hear a dogI (you) touch the screenI (you) touch my faceI (you) touch into the waterI (you) touch the hot panI (you) go to my officeI (you) go homeI (you) go into the darkI (you) go back to school I (you) think of my workI (you) think of your painI (you) think of lunchtimeI (you) think of my father I (you) am goodI (you) am badI (you) am a husbandI (you) am a doctor

I (you) hear musicI (you) hear a driving carI (you) hear birds singingI (you) hear my mother callingI (you) see a deskI (you) see you comingI (you) see a bright futureI (you) see and hear a dogI (you) touch the screenI (you) touch my faceI (you) touch into the waterI (you) touch the hot panI (you) go to my officeI (you) go homeI (you) go into the darkI (you) go back to schoolI (you) think of my workI (you) think of your painI (you) think of lunchtimeI (you) think of my father I (you) am goodI (you) am badI (you) am a husbandI (you) am a doctor

I (you) hear musicI (you) hear a driving carI (you) hear birds singingI (you) hear my mother callingI (you) see a deskI (you) see you comingI (you) see a bright futureI (you) see and hear a dogI (you) touch the screenI (you) touch my faceI (you) touch into the waterI (you) touch the hot panI (you) go to my officeI (you) go homeI (you) go into the darkI (you) go back to schoolI (you) think of my workI (you) think of your painI (you) think of lunchtimeI (you) think of my fatherI (you) am goodI (you) am badI (you) am a husbandI (you) am a doctor

Deictic Frames The implications are a bit startling To have a loving and kind approach to oneself it seems to be necessary to have loving and kind approach to others, and vice versa

Deictic Frames But deictics are not just I / YOU they are also NOW /THEN and HERE / THERE. If the same thing holds, I cannot separate a concern for myself now from a concern for others then; or a concern for myself here from a concern for you there Taking a loving and kind stance with oneself thus expands on its own accord, to all people, places, and times

Universality Yesterday Mark Williams said that while values work was not explicitly in MBCT, in actual practice mindfulness seemed to lead to a spreading compassion for others. From an ACT / RFT model, something like that seems likely, and the spread that is possible is broad indeed.

Universality Consciousness itself seems to imply compassion and concern for human suffering anywhere; or stated in the inverse way, universal joy in the joy of others

Universality Many words can be used for the focus of this property: universal love and compassion, universal justice, equality, and so on. The feature I want to point to here is the spread of concern to others that you might have for oneself (and vice versa) so I will use “universality” in this talk

Relationship The social nature of consciousness can be languaged about in another way: relationship To be concerned about others in this way is to stand in relationship to others and to care about those relationships

Relationship The ACT / RFT model provides a perspective on what it means to have a powerful relationship In our model powerful relationships appear to be accepting, non-judgmental, conscious, present, values-based, active, and flexible

Relationship Most ACT folks care about how to include relationship sensibilities in their work and if this model is right, it suggests that you will find the targets, therapists processes, and natural reinforcers in relationships especially here: Be accepting, non-judgmental, conscious, present, values-based, active, and flexible

Relationship There are some data in support of this idea In our NIDA randomized trial of ACT, FAP, and Zyban for smoking we found significantly better outcomes than for Zyban alone. Both the working alliance in therapy and smoking focused psychological flexibility (acceptance/defusion/valued action) mediated these outcomes

Relationship But when working alliance and psychological flexibility were allowed to compete, the measure of acceptance/defusion/valued action pulled the variance out of the working alliance What this tells me is that what may be most important in the therapeutic relationship is modeling and reinforcing these processes

Eudemonia Finally we return to our explicit value of valuing values in the context of the whole ACT model Aristotle had a term for what we seem to be addressing: eudemonia He spoke of it as one of the highest form of happiness, and view it as acting “in accordance with virtue” (XVII 1177a)

Caution I’ve done something that is dangerous and I want to acknowledge that If we move from empirical workability to “shoulds” we lose the whole point of the ACT model These implicit values inside our work are not the same as explicit values

Caution It is not our job to tell people what they should value – and crossing that line is both self-defeating and self-contradictory But based on this analysis, as we empower people to stand with themselves and to do what they value, a natural process is set afoot …

Discovering What We Are Up To We find that our science is about certain things And contextual behavioral science seems destined to promote those things in human culture, not because we set out to do so but because our own analysis is inductively carrying us in this direction

Discovering What We Are Up To It appears to me that our science will not just be about prediction and influence, values and effectiveness It will also end up being about love, spirituality, relationships, universality, and in the most responsible sense of the term, human happiness

I will hold myself gently I will hold myself in love Not love as something I earned Not love as a judgment Not a conclusion, a plan, a decision, a hope Not love as a manipulation; nor a wish, rather A Meditation (A Love Poem)

Love as a choice an assumption a gift Love as an action, a foundation, an essence love as an experienced reality I am here. I am whole. And lovingly, I care.