A Liberated Mind: How to Pivot Toward What Matters Paperback – August 4, 2020

A Liberated Mind is a wise and profound behavior change book I can't recommend highly enough. It contains the perfect mix of psychological theory, scientific studies to back up the theory, personal stories about how the author and numerous clients were helped by the methods, and a large variety of exercises useful for putting into practice the therapeutic principles described.I developed the habit back in college of reading widely in psychology, despite not being or aspiring to be a psychologist myself. I was a philosophy major back in school, and over the years I've also studied and tried to practice precepts from Buddhism, Ancient Stoicism, Ancient Chinese Philosophy, and Jewish Ethics, along with holding on to some key principles from my Christian upbringing. So I guess you could call me a life-long seeker who has been trying to understand myself and other people better in order to figure out how best to live a good and fulfilling life while also helping others to do so as well.Out of all the many therapies and spiritual/philosophical traditions I've explored, this book is the one that comes closest to The Holy Grail for me. That was a big surprise since I never expected that any single volume could be so life changing. I'd thought that I would just need to take the best of what each school of thought or tradition I studied offered and somehow pull together all of those bits to build a way of living that would be truly fulfilling. I'd even read years ago the author's previous work on ACT therapy targeted at non-professionals and had read ACT books by other authors too. At the time, the theory sounded interesting and I tried a few exercises out, but none of the previous works really grabbed me and I moved on. Perhaps because the theory behind ACT is a little complicated, I didn't fully grasp it at first nor buy into it.This time, however, Hayes seems to have poured his soul into explaining his life's work and the work of the many colleagues who have contributed to the effort to develop and advance Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), the therapy described in the book. And it seems that the Muses were with him this time. Not only does he seem to compellingly describe the key challenges we all face living in our complex modern world, but he gives a convincing account of why it is that things are so hard and confusing for us and what exactly to do to live lives full of meaning and purpose anyway. The word "pivot" too is key here since many of his proposed solutions to these problems are fairly quick changes of mind one can start testing out right away and just see what happens.In my own case, I've been amazed by how quickly and profoundly I've been able to change my behavior in some areas I've struggled with for decades, despite all my readings, study, and practice. I also am quite hopeful about my prospects for working through other challenges that have stifled me and kept me from reaching my full potential. If you too take up the challenge, be aware that pivoting ACT style does involve leaning into, rather than avoiding, what's been painful in life. So it's not the easiest thing in the world to do, and my experience mirrors that of the author's in having painful memories from the past bubble up rather unexpectedly at times once one starts opening up a bit. But the payoff of curiously examining those painful events and learning the lessons one had missed before is close at hand. Each experience I've had like that has brought me further insight into my past struggles, and I truly am learning what's most important to me and how I can more confidently live guided by my own principles and values. I've still got plenty of changes I'd like to make, but I'm heartened by the fact that I have a path that's proving so fruitful in getting me where I want to be. To me, that is pretty darn close to having found my Holy Grail. To live much more at peace with your life choices because you're more confidently able to make better choices truly in accord with your values and principles. Or at least to do that as often as we in all our human fallibility can manage. How great is that!Many thanks, Steven Hayes, for your most generous gift to the world. With all of our present day divisions and destructiveness, I feel that you've provided a surprisingly clear path forward, and I hope that as many people as possible get exposed to ACT whether through this work or in some other context. It potentially could be positively life changing for many others and lead to better treatment of other people, other living things, and our fragile planet too.I'd made it my habit never to write reviews, and I generally don't like anything that seems like proselytizing. But this seems too good and beneficial to hold on to only for myself. So perhaps an additional positive review among quite a few others here might prod just one other person into reading the book, giving ACT a try, and maybe profoundly changing for the better too.

I don’t recall where I had learned about this book but it’s a good read and I highly recommend it. The book starts out by stating a problem:"Life should be getting easier, but it’s not. It’s a paradox of the modern world. At the very moment that science and technology are providing us previously unimagined longevity, health, and social interaction, too many of us struggle to live meaningful, peaceful lives full of love and contribution…Every day, someone who seems to have a good life decides to eat a bottle of pills rather than continue one more day.How can this be?I believe it it because we have not risen to the challenges of being human in the modern world. Some of the very things we have been doing over the last hundred years to foster human prosperity have created our conundrum. Take the case of innovations in technology. Each step forward—radio to TV to the Internet to the smartphone—has created greater mental and social challenges, and our culture and minds haven’t adjusted rapidly enough in effective and empowering ways.As a result of our technology, we are all exposed to a constant diet of horror, drama, and judgment. In addition, many of us are left feeling overwhelmed and threatened by the rapid pace of change."- A Liberated Mind (2019, p. 3-4)Along with the problem, Hayes gives a solution that behavioral science has developed. This was something that Hayes and his colleagues have studied a small det of skills for over 35 years and, as a result of observing things that people do (ex: why some individuals experience various “positive” emotions and others only a few). The set of skills are combined to give us psychological flexibility.Before one thinks there is only a certain type of individual who can learn how to pivot, please note this is not true. I have used psychological flexibility with clients by having them to write down their values (not goals—there is a difference) and asked them if they are willing to focus on their values instead of what The Dictator (as in their thoughts) is telling them to focus on. I also teach clients about defusion—what to do when The Dictator (intrusive/negative thoughts) start to come into focus instead of their values. It’s something one does to retrain the mind but, as the book title says, it is worth it because it is liberating.