Quote:
Originally Posted by CharlotteJ
Definitely, CR.
ACT is a lot about not judging and labelling feelings as "good" or "bad" and not fighting to get RID of challenging or difficult feelings. It's about noticing them, allowing them to be, allowing them to pass in their own time. It doesn't mean never taking constructive action (like going for a walk or listening to calming music) but it's about accepting that ALL feelings are okay and not inherently something to get rid of or "fix"...
I had to do years of CBT (and make some progress but still struggle a lot) before I'd consider such an approach, though... I can't imagine still fighting to change all the challenging feelings - so draining and like smacking your head against a brick wall!
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Yeah wow you said that really well, I definitely labeled any and all anxious feelings as bad - that can get soooo exhausting. Like slapping yourself on the wrist every time you feel a certain way, wow, its pretty obvious how that can just escalate the problem, but for some reason it really wasn't obvious to me.
I would just feel so ashamed or horrible for feeling anxious, it felt like an atomic bomb just going off in my body from all the emotion I was generating from it. I never even once considered to let it be okay and not try to change it, my intolerance to that emotion was just incredible. It was like I was allergic to that emotion or something lol.