Our evidence-based framework

Values are more than goals and temporary feelings. They describe the essence of our way of being in the world: our chosen qualities; what is truly important to us about being a friend, a family member, a partner, a co-worker, or simply a human being. Articulating our values clearly, even if our goals take longer to reach or the feelings aren’t always easy, allows us to stay committed to becoming the very best version of ourselves that we can be.

Despite the popular idea of using incentives and punishments, the most effective way to create long-term change is to root our efforts in our core values. This is why this skill is called “Committed Action”— making a commitment to living in alignment with our core values. When we root our actions in our values, they provide guidance for our direction and ideas about what concrete steps we can take, so that we can continue to commit ourselves to what is truly important.

Being present means making full contact with the present moment, including all aspects of your body, thoughts, and emotions. By learning to keep our attention focused in the present, worry, anxiety, negative thoughts, and dire predictions hold less power. We discover that there is more choice, more freedom, and more flexibility in the present moment than the past or future can ever offer us.

Acceptance means making space for the wholeness of our experience—even the unpleasant parts. It means learning how to acknowledge our experience as a normal part of what it means to be human. When we learn how to open up to our full experience, it frees us up to drop the struggle with ourselves and to start turning our energies to the things that matter most to us.

When we are experiencing difficult emotions, our thoughts are often also a significant piece of the suffering. Oftentimes, they get so frequent and so strong that it is as if they sink their hooks into us and simply won’t let go. One way we can practice disentangling ourselves is to bring the same observation and curiosity to our thoughts that we bring to other parts of our experience. This can give us a little space to step back rather than getting caught up in our thoughts and feelings.

We all hold self-stories: labels, descriptions, and even factual statements about ourselves that help us to make sense of who we are. Sometimes, they can be invaluable. Other times, we may cling so tightly to one piece of identity content that it costs us something important. But what if we learned how to distance our sense of self from the content or our self-stories, as if we are observing all those ideas swimming around inside of us? This is what Self-as-Context is all about.

Values are more than goals and temporary feelings. They describe the essence of our way of being in the world: our chosen qualities; what is truly important to us about being a friend, a family member, a partner, a co-worker, or simply a human being. Articulating our values clearly, even if our goals take longer to reach or the feelings aren’t always easy, allows us to stay committed to becoming the very best version of ourselves that we can be.

Despite the popular idea of using incentives and punishments, the most effective way to create long-term change is to root our efforts in our core values. This is why this skill is called “Committed Action”— making a commitment to living in alignment with our core values. When we root our actions in our values, they provide guidance for our direction and ideas about what concrete steps we can take, so that we can continue to commit ourselves to what is truly important.