Tag Archive for: experiential avoidance

Video: Cognitive Fusion & Experiential Avoidance

The importance for health and well-being of being in full contact with our inner subjective experience.

When Experiential Avoidance Is Healthy

Recently, I’ve been addressing the dangers of how cognitive fusion and experiential avoidance can prevent us from living in full contact with our present moment, lived experiences. However, there are situations where going into a trance and…

Avoidance of Thoughts and Feelings is Unhealthy

Experiential Avoidance and Intimacy In recent posts, I have discussed the concept of experiential avoidance, which is the conscious or unconscious avoidance of unpleasant thoughts, feelings, and feared life activities. A simple example of…
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What We Resists Persists and Negatively Impacts Our Health.

Uncomfortable Thoughts and Feelings: An Invitation to Mastery The more energy we expend on avoiding our uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, the further we get from achieving the desired comfort. By contrast, when we courageously commit to…
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Experiential Avoidance is the Opposite of Mindfulness

Experiential Avoidance of Thoughts and Feelings Becoming aware of the ways we avoid unpleasant thoughts and feelings as well as activities that we fear could trigger those thoughts and feelings is an important step toward mindfulness. Conversely,…

Experiential Avoidance of Thoughts and Feelings is Unhealthy

Psychologist Steven Hayes popularized the term experiential avoidance, which is a term that originated in contextual behavioral science research. It refers to a common psychological pattern to which we are all susceptible: the attempt to avoid…

Psychotherapy, Mental Practices, Core Beliefs, & Moods

Why people seek psychotherapy According to psychologists Dr. Liz Roemer and Dr. Sue Orsillo , the most common complaints people bring into their psychotherapy sessions have as their root cause cognitive fusion, lack of acceptance of self…

Mental Training to Reduce Suffering

Many of us living with chronic health challenges often find ourselves thinking that all our suffering stems from pain, fatigue, or physical limitations. But this is not the whole picture. As I have mentioned in other posts, much of our suffering…

The Primary Sources of Unhappiness

  Cognitive Fusion The mental state of cognitive fusion is one in which we confuse our thoughts and beliefs with reality; we become so identified with them that we lose the ability to see them for what they are—inventions of the mind.…