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ORA question we get quite often, usually at the end of our workshops, is “how can I continue learning ACT?” (I think they do it at the end of the workshops because that is when they realize that they have made a bad investment and will have to fend for themselves). And I think it is worth addressing that question here because ACT belongs to a psychological tradition quite different from the one we are used to (at least in Argentina), which is why it can be difficult to find a direction to orient yourself and most of those who approach They do the model by training themselves in a self-taught way.
This publication is, then, a reading guide, some recommendations to begin entering the jungle that can be ACT/CBS. Perhaps it will help you if you are taking your first steps, and if you are already familiar with the model, you may come across some texts that you did not know.
This is not intended to be a definitive guide, but just some suggestions I would make to myself if I could go back in time to when I started studying ACT/CBS. Nothing more than a very limited collection of texts that I liked (I insist a lot on this so that they don’t take it to heart and start with “and this book, and that other one?”). We could add dozens of books and articles, but I think the list below may be enough to open some doors.
A warning before starting: most of the books are in English, and the most specific texts (research, for example), will probably never be translated. I will put some references in Spanish, but for a good part of the literature a basic command of English will be necessary.
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General Introduction Texts to ACT
There are dozens of ACT books, all it takes is a quick internet search to quickly be overwhelmed by the amount. We will not point out texts on specific populations or diagnoses, but rather books that serve for general management of the model.
Hayes, S.C., Strosahl, K.D., & Wilson, K.G. (2014). . Desclée De Brouwer.
The first thing I would recommend to read about ACT is, pardon the redundancy, the ACT book. It describes the rudiments of RFT, the general principles of the clinical model, the hexaflex, techniques and metaphors for clinical work, etc. It is a highly recommended reading if you want to work with ACT in clinical settings.
There are two editions, the first was released in 1999, the second in 2011, but there is enough difference between the two to consider them not as two editions of a book, but two different books that deal with the same topic. If you can, get the second edition, but if not, the first will be useful too.
Harris, R. (2009). . New Harbinger Publications.
This is the second book I usually suggest. Russ has a talent for communicating concepts in a clear and simple way — to the point that the book may be too simple if what you are looking for is a more elaborate conceptual development, but as a clinical tool it is great, packed with interesting ways to work on techniques. ACT.
Hayes, S.C., & Smith, S. (2013). . Desclée de Brouwer.
If you want to have an approximation of what it would be like to be on the receiving end of the interventions, this book is a good example. Although the book is self-help, it is useful for a therapist taking her first steps. The exercises and resources she uses are perfectly adaptable in the clinic, and it is also a book that can be worked on with a patient, using it as a therapy guide.
RFT
It offers greater difficulty than ACT, and how much you delve into it depends on your goals. To do clinical work, general knowledge may be enough (say, what RFT is described in the ACT book or in introductory chapters), while if the objective is to teach or write, I would say that it is necessary to know it in quite a bit of detail. To put it in a simile, it is like knowing how a car’s engine works if the objective is to drive it: in most cases you can drive without knowing anything about engines, but the most challenging conditions will be better faced if you know something at the same time. regard.
Some basic knowledge of behavior analysis (especially verbal behavior) is necessary before diving into RFT. And while it is not necessary, becoming familiar with the stimulus equivalence literature (the works of Murray Sidman), can help understand the emergence of RFT.
Torneke, N. (2016). . Mickey Publications.
If you want to learn RFT, I would suggest starting with Torneke’s book, of which there is a Spanish version. The explanations are reasonably accessible (we are talking about RFT, after all), and he takes care to give numerous clinical examples.
Eric J. Fox, Ph.D.
Another first step to learning RFT is on Eric Fox’s website (check his website, he has other tutorials that are excellent), an online tutorial that presents the principles of RFT in a very enjoyable interactive format and with excellent humor.
Hayes, S.C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Roche, B. (2001). . Springer.
If you want to delve into the hard core of RFT, then the 2001 book is still a mandatory reference, all the processes are described with a level of detail and technical precision such as to overwhelm anyone, but there is everything you need to know. If you want to research, or teach classes on RFT, this text is essential. It is preferable that they first have a basic idea about behavior analysis (and if they include verbal behavior, even better).
Philosophy of science: Functional contextualism
We continue down the rabbit hole. ACT/CBS is philosophically based on an interpretation of behaviorism called functional contextualism (in case you have just arrived in the world, “behaviorism” is not a psychological current, despite the insistence of university professors, but it is a philosophy of the science). It is not necessary to handle CF for the clinic, but if you are going to teach or write academic texts, it is unavoidable to have at least rudimentary knowledge of the subject.
Hayes, S.C., Hayes, L.J., & Reese, H.W. (1988). . Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 50(1), 97–111.
This is the first text (that I know of) in which Pepper’s framework of analysis is explicitly applied as the philosophical foundation of what the CBS will be.
Hayes, SC, Hayes, LJ, Reese, HW & Sarbin, TR (Eds.), (pp. 11–27). Reno, NV: Context Press.
In this book (and in the first chapter in particular), the term is introduced functional contextualism (as opposed to descriptive), and a scientific strategy is developed based on those philosophical assumptions.
Pepper, S. C. (1942). : University of California Press.
If you want to go even deeper into the philosophy of science, you can go directly to the book by . What they will find there will not be a philosophy applied to psychology, but a general reflection and possible approach to philosophy (a metaphilosophy, we could say). The text is interesting and very well written, but the reading is arduous, I would recommend it only for very specific purposes.
Behavioral analysis
ACT as an intervention model belongs to the tradition of behavior analysis (BA), so there are some issues of BA that cannot be ignored if you want to work with ACT (what is a functional analysis, shaping, exposure, etc.).
There are hundreds of very useful books on CA, in Spanish and English, and any more or less serious one can help you, because the concepts are always the same — let’s say, the concept of reinforcement, even if it is presented in a different way or with emphasis on different aspects, it is always one. That said, there are some texts that I find particularly useful:
Ramnero, J., & Torneke, N. (2011). . Oakland, CA: New Harbinger Publications.
This book, written by people familiar with ACT, is perhaps the most ACT therapist-friendly introduction to the core concepts of AC.
Moore, J. (2008). . New York: Sloan Publishing.
Catania, A. C. (2013). (5th ed.). Sloan Publishing.
Moore and Catania’s books are some of my favorites in AC. Both are excellent books; Moore’s book takes a historical overview of AC, and has a little more emphasis on the conceptual, while Catania’s book focuses more on presenting the concepts and definitions with many examples.
Pryor, K. (2016). (8th ed.). Kns editions SC
This book is not specifically directed at human behavior, but it is one of the simplest and most accessible introductions to the basic concepts of behavior modification.
Articles of interest
Before the publication of the first ACT book, there were about fifteen years of publications in which the conceptual and strategic bases of what would later become the CBS were laid. The period from 1984 to 1999 is rich in relatively little-known articles in which some of the guiding ideas of ACT/CBS can be seen.
Hayes, S.C., Wilson, K.G., Gifford, E.V., Follette, V.M., & Strosahl, K. (1996). . Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 64(6), 1152–1168.
This is a seminal article in which the topic of experiential avoidance is developed extensively, exposing the concept and reviewing part of the literature.
Hayes, S.C., Brownstein, A.J., Zettle, R.D., Rosenfarb, I., & Korn, Z. (1986). . Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 45(3), 237–256.
Perhaps you have heard that language generates “insensitivity to contingencies.” Well, this is one of the initial texts that supports this idea, a laboratory investigation.
Hayes, S. C. (1984). . Behaviorism, 12, 99–110.
This could be considered the first ACT article. In it, Hayes presents a proposal for how we can understand spirituality in behavioral terms (spoiler: he does so by talking about language and in particular what would later become the self-as-context).
Hayes, S.C., & Brownstein, A.J. (1986). . The Behavior Analyst, 9(2).
This conceptual article is very little known, but particularly of interest to those who come from the behavioral analysis side, because it describes the way in which thoughts can be part of an analysis of human behavior, and in particular how to approach relationships. conduct-conduct
Friman, P.C., Hayes, S.C., & Wilson, K.G. (1998). . Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31(1), 137–156.
The same as for the previous article, only the focus here is on how emotion can be addressed in behavioral analysis.
Forsyth, JP, Lejuez, CW, Hawkins, RP, & Eifert, GH (1996). . Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 27(4), 369–376.
This article may be more interesting for those coming from the cognitive wing, as it proposes some ways to reconcile the cognitive and contextual perspectives.
How to get materials
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