A Liberated Mind (Reading Group, Meeting #1)

A new reading group meeting is taking place this winter on Steven Hayes's new psychology book A Liberated Mind: https://stevenchayes.com/a-liberated-mind/

We meet once a month to read approximately 100 pages of the book. Feel free to drop by any session, even if you missed earlier sessions or will miss later ones.

As humans we are all prone to see life as a problem to solve. But our “problem-solving” brain can lead us to engage in behaviours that shield us from fear and hurt (at a cost of our development and happiness). So this is not a healthy coping strategy. Life is not a problem to be solved. Bad feelings are not emotional states we should aspire to eliminate. Pain and vulnerability are inherent aspects of life and not antithetical to living a meaningful life.

Steven Hayes is one of the most cited psychologists in the world and developed Acceptance and Commitment Theory (ACT) , an empirically based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies, and behavioral change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility. Today’s busy modern life requires modern minds- minds that possess psychological flexibility. This is described in Hayes’ Tedx Talk- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o79_gmO5ppg&feature=emb_title

Hope to see you there!

Cheers,

Colin