Treating cognitive fusion and a negative conceptualized self
While the conceptualized self is not the enemy, it has been shown that a flexible conceptualized self is vital to mental health. It is healthy to keep an open mind about our own thoughts, feelings, judgments, and allow ourselves to feel what we feel, rather than evaluating an unpleasant internal experience as something that must define us.
Acceptance and commitment therapy
(ACT) is an emotion-focused form of therapy that emphasizes . One goal of ACT is to become less reactive, and to act in ways inline with the values we choose.
Skills taught by ACT:
- Cognitive defusion. The reframing of cognitive experiences as experiences, and not the truth. For example reframing "I am anxious", as "I am experiencing anxiety". The effect of human language on our cognition is explored by .
- Acceptance. Acceptance is a simple concept, but key to ACT. Rather than fighting with unpleasant emotions, ACT encourages the acceptance of these experiences. Acceptance in itself is not a solution or "cure" to negative thought patterns, but a path to more thoughtful actions.
- Being present. Disconnecting from the conceptualized self, and coming closer to the present-moment self, helps us to get out of our heads.
Reminder: The observing self
The observing self is the part of us that hears our thoughts without evaluating or judging. Where the conceptualized self may compare a thought with our perceived life narrative or who we expect ourselves to be, the observing self acknowledges and accepts the experience of thought or feeling.
For example:
The thought: "I'm bored and I want to go home."
Who we expect to be: "This is my sister's party, I love my sister and I should be having fun."
The acknowledgment: "I'm feeling bored and wanting to go home, but I also feel that I should stay for my sister's party."
You might see that accepting a feeling does not resolve the situation: that is not the goal of ACT strategies. Instead, accepting emotions as they come helps the brain to become less reactive over time, thanks to .
As we become more psychologically flexible, we show less cognitive fusion, which gives our sense of conceptualized self less power over us. In this way, ACT can help treat the effects of a negative conceptualized self, without needing to tackle how we see ourselves.