The main approach to counselling and coaching used at JMA Psychology Canberra is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT - pronounced as the word "act" not the initials, especially not in Canberra!).
ACT is part of what is being called the 'third wave' of therapies which focus on thoughts, feelings and actions, and how they interact with each other (CBT, for example, is described as part of the 'second wave'). ACT is based on the hard science of Relational Frame Theory (RFT) which seeks to understand how the human mind works, and why suffering is such a universal experience.
Unfortunately we are currently at capacity and our books are closed to new clients only until further notice.
Apologies Jacqui.
All psycho-babble aside, ACT is a simple, powerful and flexible way of responding to a very wide range of problems:
ACT is very effectively complemented by two other psychological disciplines/approaches used within JMA Psychology Canberra which focus less on thinking and logical analysis of thoughts or experiences, and more on tapping into the natural healing resources of the human nervous system.
Affective Neuroscience, or the study of emotional at its source in our brains, provides us with a means of better understanding this most important and yet most feared and avoided element of our human existence, emotional pain.
Interpersonal Neurobiology (one of the best resources in this regard is the collected works of Dr Dan Siegel) is an interdisciplinary approach to understanding how we can integrate all elements of our experience of living, including the joyful, painful, momentary, unforgettable, traumatic, and interpersonally isolated or linked, into a life rich with meaning, vitality, and creativity.
These approaches in turn inform a particularly robust approach to helping couples work on their relationships, PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy) which Jacqui has found to be very powerful in her relationship counselling work.
