One of my Heroes

All of us have a hero or two that has influenced us, our work, and even our lives.  People that stand taller than tall, who we respect and look up to, and upon whose shoulders we stand because they are truly giants.  I’d like to introduce you to one of my heroes: Steven Hayes.

Steve is a psychologist and was the pioneering researcher and developer of what is called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, or ACT.  I’ve met him only a couple of times at conferences, and know him only from his work.  Nevertheless, he is one of my heroes.

At one of these conferences, held in Miami, Steve did a presentation concerning the treatment of a very depressed client.  His client was a woman who was suicidal.  He showed a video clip of a therapy session—the first session he had with this woman—and you could see and hear her palpably change from being depressed and suicidal to not.  He effectively ‘cured’ her of suicidal depression in one 45-minute session.  She then went off and checking back with him once or twice later and was fine, living her life and pursuing what she cared about much better than she had before seeing him.

Now, I was very impressed with this.  I thought it truly remarkable how she recovered so quickly.  But the thing was, I hadn’t a clue about what it was he was doing.  At the time, I was just finishing my doctorate and his psychological treatment flew completely over my head.  I knew there was something powerful there, but damned if I knew what it was.

Steve was talking about concepts like psychological flexibility, not getting trapped in a struggle with difficult thoughts and strong feelings, having compassion for yourself, which helps you turn pain into purpose and pursuing what you care about, regardless what your mind and feelings tell you.  I had always thought—and was trained to believe—that we had to fix our unconstructive thoughts and get rid of our uncomfortable feelings before anything meaningful could be done.  That’s not true at all.

Steven Hayes figured that out.  He figured that out from the personal angst of panic disorder (feeling so anxious and upset you can think you are actually having a heart attack) with which he was plagued and which hindered his ability to bring psychology to others and live a meaningful life.  He figured that out and changed completely the way I and many others now think about and practice psychology.  So, you can see why he is one of my heroes.

This is a brief video clip of a recent TED Talk with Steven Hayes talking about psychological flexibility and how turning towards pain and suffering helps us also turn toward what really matters to us and what we care about.  I think you will find something of real value in his talk.  Give it a listen.

Ted Talk: Steven Hayes, Ph.D.

Let me know what you think in the comments section below.