Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Training
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy or Training (ACT) is a mindfulness-based behavioural therapy or training which increases psychological flexibility. Like physical flexibility, when we are psychologically flexible, we are able to deal with life more easily. We consciously choose what matters to us and start to take action towards this rather than staying stuck or lost.
What makes ACT different to other approaches is that anxieties, fears or pain are seen as a natural part of life rather than an abnormal experience. In other words, your suffering does not make you flawed or broken – it simply means you are human.
Instead of trying to get rid of the uncomfortable thoughts, feelings and sensations that lead to suffering – which research shows doesn’t work anyway – ACT provides tools to relate to them differently while taking action towards the life you want to be living.
Together, we identify what matters to you, what you want your time on this earth to be about. We use these values as a ‘pulling force’ to help you move in the direction you want by taking committed action.
We tap into the Buddhist tradition of mindfulness or being present to experience life more fully and even lean into the pain, rather than resorting to our default fight, flight or freeze response. We bring in curiosity and self-compassion as powerful tools for change.
My Commitment
♥ Providing a safe space in which my clients can step back and see things differently.
♥ Creating a judgement-free zone where my clients feel heard and supported, regardless of what they are going through.
♥ Helping my clients learn new ways of relating to their internal village of thoughts, feeling and sensations so they can drop the struggle with themselves. Much of the pain in life doesn’t have a ‘solution’ yet we can learn to relate to the pain differently.
♥ Creating a compassionate space where my clients also learn to bring themselves kindness, to better listen to their needs, to have their own back – whether or not they think they ‘deserve’ this.
♥ Helping my clients get unstuck and moving towards what matters to them. Because living with a genetic kidney disease myself, I realize that life is not unlimited, that we all have precious little time on this earth to do what matters to us, to be in the kind of relationships we truly desire, to live the life we really want to be living.
♥ I want to treat each session as if it were the last, to provide value in each session so that my clients leave with a small step to work towards or a new skill to practice.
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you always got – Steven Hayes, Founder of ACT
Practicalities
Sessions are 100 CHF each.
ACT is a more active form of therapy or training where you actively acquire skills and tools for life.
In order to get the most from sessions, we agree on ways of practising the new skills you acquire in session in between sessions. Sessions can also include handouts and email contact between sessions.
Sessions can take place in person in Geneva, Switzerland at 7, rue de Fribourg, 1201 Genève or over Skype – in English or French (most handouts are in English).
Get in touch to book a session or if you have any questions!
Working with Hiba was a pretty life-changing experience. Through her attention and guidance she helped me to get out of a situation where I felt so stuck in old responses and enabled me to see it in a new light. The shifts that took place feel real and permanent and have enabled me to get my head out of the sand and move on… I feel lighter, clearer and more in touch with my emotions. Thank you Hiba. – Suzy
