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Foundation Professor advises acceptance, not avoidance

By Zanny Marsh

The self-help movement has popularized the belief that happiness should be the norm. According to Steve Hayes, a Nevada psychology professor, that’s a wild exaggeration.

“Everybody has felt sadness, shame, anxiety, fear, and loss,” Hayes writes in his book, Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life: The New Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. “We all carry painful, hidden secrets. We tend to put on happy, shiny faces, pretending that everything is okay, and that life is all good.”

But it isn’t and it can’t be. If you live long enough, you will experience the painful loss of someone you love or other tragedies, he observes.

As the founder of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Hayes’ pioneering methods take the punch out of negative experiences and feelings by acknowledging pain rather than avoiding or suppressing it. ACT is not a new science; it is one of a family of therapies that are bringing constructive, spiritual, Eastern-oriented sensibility into Western science. 

More than 20 randomized trials conducted on ACT demonstrate that the processes Hayes has developed are helpful for many types of problems including coping with chronic, debilitating ailments such as diabetes or heart disease. While an individual may not reverse physical challenges, the mind can diminish the impact of the struggle and come to a place of peace.

Hayes cites his own tinnitus as an example. “I have constant ringing in my ears,” he said. “By applying ACT, I have learned to live almost without noticing it, unless I am very tired or distracted.”   

Hayes’ book helps people apply ACT to problems like obsessive thoughts, anxiety, relationships, addictions and mental health disorders such as depression and stress. No therapist (necessarily) required.

“The avoidance of reality empowers the pain and makes it worse,” Hayes observes. “ACT makes it possible for anyone to learn life-enhancing strategies and put into practice the new technologies that make a difference in just a day or two.”

His book has caught fire with popular media. Hayes has been featured in Time magazine in February 2006; in the July 2007 O, the Oprah magazine; and, on the Oprah television show.

Scholars and therapists have adopted ACT, and it is a useful tool for therapists themselves. Hayes is in the midst of a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to develop workshops for addiction counselors who feel emotionally overwhelmed by their work with difficult clients.

Hayes is one of several distinguished faculty in the University's psychology department who have achieved recognition for their extensive publication record.

The current issue of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice surveyed all American Psychological Association-accredited clinical programs in the United States and Canada, ranking them on the basis of scholarly productivity during a five-year window (2000-2004). Nevada ranked 12th out of 166 programs nationwide in publications per faculty member and No. 1 in the number of books produced.

Zanny Marsh is a public relations director for the College of Liberal Arts, College of Education and Reynolds School of Journalism.

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