We spend an exhausting amount of energy trying to outrun our own difficult thoughts and feelings.

For this episode, Jill Stoddard brings back ACT therapist, trainer, and author of The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills Workbook, Matt Boone for a refreshingly grounded look at Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Matt shares how his own path through chronic pain led him to ACT, breaking down why trying to "fix" uncomfortable inner experiences usually backfires.

You'll hear about why we procrastinate, how to unhook from spiral-inducing thoughts, and how to get unstuck when uncertainty feels overwhelming. Plus, Matt shares how ACT helps therapists dodge burnout. 

Join us for this practical guide to making peace with the noise in your head so you can finally move toward what actually matters.

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Listen and Learn: 

• How ACT moves away from trying to "fix" or eliminate difficult emotions, teaching people to live alongside their pain so they can focus energy on what truly matters 
• Matt’s personal journey from chronic pain patient to ACT therapist, exploring how real-life experiences shaped their approach to therapy and led to designing experiential ACT training courses 
• How Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) shifts the focus from managing symptom scores to creating meaningful, real-world behavior changes through experiential, values-based action 
• Why "we hurt where we care," how procrastination and avoidance function to give us short-term relief, and how reconnecting with your deeper "why" can help you step through discomfort toward a full life 
• How to define values as actionable, ongoing ways of being rather than fixed feelings, and discover practical tools 
• Aligning small everyday actions with your values to allow you to act with intention, kindness, and self-acceptance, even in hard moments 
• Major clinical hurdles and creative, practical exercises to act in alignment with your values anyway 
• How mindfulness allows you to step back and observe unhelpful thoughts without getting tangled up in them or taking them as "capital-T truth 
• Why arguing with your mind often backfires, how to shift focus from thought content to thought impact, and why taking a "leap of faith" empowers you to take meaningful action aligned with your values 

Resources: 

• The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills Workbook https://www.matthewsboone.com/acceptance-commitment-therapy-skills-workbook
• Matt's Website https://www.matthewsboone.com/
• Connect with Matt on Social Mediahttps://www.facebook.com/matthew.boone.794/about
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewsboone
• https://www.praxiscet.com 
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About Matt Boone: 

Matt Boone is a social worker, psychotherapist, and author who specializes in translating mental health concepts for the general public. His books include The Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Skills Workbook, co-authored with Jennifer Gregg, and Stop Avoiding Stuff: 25 Microskills to Face Your Fears and Do It Anyway, co-authored with Jennifer Gregg and Lisa Coyne.

He is the Associate Director at the Student Wellness Program (SWP) of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry. As the Clinical Director of Mental Health Coaching at Lyra Health, he oversaw the clinical development of Lyra’s mental health coaching program and offered workshops and webinars on mental health topics to workers in the tech industry. Lyra partners with eBay, Lyft, Uber, Servicenow and others to provide evidence-based care to their employees.

At Cornell University, he oversaw the development of Let's Talk, an outreach program that has since been replicated at nearly 100 other colleges and universities. 

He lives and works in Little Rock, Arkansas with his wife, guitars, and cats, Giorgia (a sassy Tortie) and Finley (a gentle giant orange kitty with a superhuman -- or superkitten-- capacity for empathy).

Related Episodes:

• 77. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy with Jill Stoddard
• 106. Therapy from “The Heart of ACT” with Robyn Walser
• 116. Building a Meaningful, Values-based Life with Jenna LeJeune
• 121. Be Mighty: An Episode for Stressed Out, Worried Women with Jill Stoddard
• 128. ACT for Food Restriction and Anorexia with Rhonda Merwin
• 190. ACT for Suicide Prevention with Sean Barnes
• 195. ACT Daily with Diana Hill and Debbie Sorensen
• 226. ACT for Perfectionism with Jennifer Kemp
• 279. ACT for Healing Black Racial Trauma with Jennifer Shepard Payne
• 301. Seven Daily ACT Practices for Living Fully with Diana Hill and Debbie Sorensen
• 313. ACT-Informed Exposure for Anxiety with Brian Pilecki and Brian Thompson
• 338. ACT for Burnout with Debbie!

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