Category Archives: Psychological Flexibility

Building Psychological Flexibility by Turning Rules into Ribbons

This post was co-authored with Marie-France Bolduc . Marie-France is an incredibly warm and compassionate ACT therapist and trainer based in Quebec. In a recent training session, her partner, Benjamin Schoendorff, described a lovely metaphor Marie-France has developed and I … Continue reading

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Could It Be Helpful To Focus On Your Mistakes?

Do you have a tendency to focus on your mistakes? To notice the 5% of your presentation that wasn’t as good as it could be? To really remember and mentally grind over the times when your work was mediocre or … Continue reading

Posted in Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), Meaning, Psychological Flexibility, Values, Work | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Growing Compassion in Organisations

Hello! I am so excited to be joining “Working with ACT” exactly two years to the day since Rob and Rachel started this wonderful blog. Working with mindfulness and values is a big part of my professional and personal life. … Continue reading

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How Moments of Joy and Pain Can Help You Work Out What Really Matters To You

In this noisy world, where we are bombarded with messages telling us what to think and do, it can be hard to work out what is really important to us. In this Big Think Interview, Steve Hayes gives two suggestions for … Continue reading

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Tackling Our Culture of Cruelty

A recent Panorama investigation found systematic abuse of elderly residents going on in a UK care home.  Some of the most vulnerable people in our society were being ritually abused by their so-called carers: On the top floor of a … Continue reading

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Why Happiness Makes Me Grumpy (aka: The Limitations of Aiming for a Happy Workplace)

Most serious positive psychology researchers would agree with the idea that happiness should not be an objective.   But in my experience the message gets lost in translation, certainly among the many life coaches and pop psychologists who advocate the implementation … Continue reading

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Why Psychological Flexibility Will be a Key Leadership Skill of the Future

Last year in the UK, a Panorama investigation uncovered systematic abuse of elderly care home residents who were ­being routinely pushed about, belittled and ­humiliated by their so-called carers. Worse, when whistleblowers drew attention to the abuse it was they … Continue reading

Posted in Acceptance and Commitment Training (ACT), Behaviour change, Psychological Flexibility, Relationships / communication, Values, Work | Tagged | 2 Comments

You Probably Aren’t the Best Person for the Job

Do you ever feel like you might not be the best person for the job? Do you sometimes worry that people will find you out and realise that you aren’t smart enough or knowledgable enough or skilful enough for the … Continue reading

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A Summer of Defying Labels

This gallery contains 36 photos.

Today the Paralympics end and I’ve been reflecting what it has all meant to me. One of the major themes has been about the Olympics’ capacity to defy labels.  Labels can be useful to help us understand things and give … Continue reading

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Why I Am Not As Empathic As I Want to Be

Last year, my daughter Ellie, had her wisdom teeth out. It was horrible. It is a painful and unpleasant procedure and, to make matters worse, Ellie has a needle phobia. Ellie felt terrified but she hid it well and looked completely calm. … Continue reading

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