The ACT Matrix | a simple perspective-taking exercise

[@KevinPolk]

This is VERY well done. Bravo! (I'm Kevin Polk, Ph.D. The guy who came up with the ACT Matrix back in 2009.)

[@loolabel7]

Thank you Kevin! No introduction needed from you - you are credited at the end of the video. It's an honour that you have watched it and like it. Please keep sharing your work (and the video!) - the matrix is a wonderful tool, and one I use almost daily in my work.

[@KevinPolk]

@@loolabel7 Please be a guest on Matrix Talk! We broadcast Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1 pm EST USA.

[@loolabel7]

@@KevinPolk I would love to!

[@tarafield216]

Wow! What an endorsement! I just came across this fantastic video and shall be sharing it with my clients. Thank you, Kevin, for the Matrix and Louise for this video!

[@TristineBarry]

Thank you Dr.!!

[@rollinboulder]

“we can think ourselves into danger” is an incredibly accurate description of what goes on in our head. Great work

[@bmxt939]

Are you like reverse hydra or something?

[@rollinboulder]

@ can you elaborate please

[@zfoska]

Not sure how I stumbled upon this video but I suffer from severe ADHD, and this gave me a very important tool to use my witness state and react wisely to experience my emotions and accept my acts of stupidity.

[@richardheathcock2346]

thank you for this, and try to notice and remember when you feel stuck; it may well not be your fault, but it is often your responsibility for change in your life

[@Vikette1000]

Just discovered this and now have a page of scribbles. I finally see the big picture. Thank you!

[@thinkpsychology4862]

I'm an experienced ACT therapist, supervisor, trainer, and author...and this is the Matrix resource I recommend to clients and practitioners over and over again. Fantastic piece of work Louise. Beutifully illustrated and narrated. This should be everyone's go-to Matrix video.

[@mathaifenn]

I am a cognitive psychologist with a PhD and decades of experience. This video is the best I have seen in the past one year!! Thank you ❤

[@loolabel7]

Wow thank your for your kind comments

[@malemaline]

This was so practical and tangible. I've been in therapy for over ten years and haven't found advice this useful and practical.

[@loolabel7]

Thank you for commenting - it's so lovely to hear that this video is helping people. The matrix has helped me too, and i use it daily

[@vivaldirules]

I thought I knew what ACT was and how to use it and I mostly gave it a “meh”. But now I can see I won’t stop thinking about it and how I need to use this perspective for a while. Thank you!

[@sarahdjinn593]

Dogs, birds and many other animals socialized with humans can also develop post traumatic stress and be in full on threat mode when physically safe and well fed!

[@matswessling6600]

they dont need to be socialized with humans to do that.

[@moonstrukk126]

It's not the same in that the animals become reactive to any outside threats but there's no "thought" process. My cat is incredibly skittish about sudden movements loud sounds etc. she reacts but she's just reacting to that threat she's not thinking about it. The only thing we can do for animals suffering from abuse or trauma is provide a safe home base. I'm my cats safe space. I guess making safe places for ourselves can help shut down the constant anxious thinking etc

[@matswessling6600]

@ animals thinks a lot. They dont think like we do but yes, they think.

[@diwakardayal954]

How do you know they think alot?​@@matswessling6600

[@emmadiamond5925]

I wonder how to adapt this for ADHD, I often have executive dysfunction/paralysis. So my thoughts are like "c'mon, lets get going on (insert important thing)" but my body is stuck in freeze or my dopamine is low so I feel tired and 'cant be bother' which is inherently linked to my ADHD but can't exclusively be. I wish I could pick this apart as telling myself 'I should be able to just get up and on with it' is sort of like internalised able-ism and doesn't account for real hidden disability. I desperately want to look after myself and my important things/people better though

[@helendeoliveiracarvalho9028]

Try speaking to yourself very lovingly. C'mon let's get going might be a bit terse.

[@LisaTrusty]

Same 😞

[@sarahcinnamonthriving9563]

I have ADHD, C-PTSD, brain injury, and chronic pain and can very much relate to what you experience. This exercise is helpful sometimes, but not if already having too many limiting basics unmet (too much pain, insomnia/ sleep deprivation, legitimate stresses/ survival traumas, brain &/ or body inflammation/ pain flares).

[@hola___soymarce]

My therapist gave me this as an exercise to noticing myself and I didn’t know how to do it, until I found your video! It was so helpful and so simple to understand how to explore mine matrix, thank you much!! ❤❤❤❤

[@loolabel7]

Thank you - it's so good to hear that this is helping people.

[@nitinroy1331]

Damn this is helpful! I have been suffering from mental illness since I was kid. On and off therapy and meds, mostly CBT. But this exercise seems so pragmatic! Thank you for the effort you put in making this incredible video!

[@Antony_Seddon]

Act was recommended to me by a previous therapist but ive found it a little difficult to get started, mainly because it's a littke non-linear (start with any of the 6 processes) but this video of the act matrix has made things so much clearer, thank you for making it.

[@trevorjones2918]

💯 act is non linear, great noticing. It’s also designed that way very purposefully. We don’t realise in the west that we suffer tremendously under the weight of linear, goal oriented thinking, and we also know, in a very common sense way, that’s just not life, which is more like a big bowl of spaghetti! There’s a famous saying in act “The goal is the process by which the process becomes the goal” Opening up to life as a nonlinear process is such a defiance of toxic cultural messaging is a wonderful thing indeed. Hope this helps

[@RobPurssey]

As a matrix player :) and practitioner for over 10 years - LOVE IT!!! - immediately an integral part of my clinical work - already just shared with a client who'd noted, after 1st matrix session "Thanks Rob, I’ll try and notice my actions this week. For me I’ll write them down so I can reflect and be aware of them." this video will help greatly for SO many of my clients, THANKS Louise and Aika! :)

[@loolabel7]

Thank you Rob. It's really lovely to hear that people are finding it helpful, and sharing it with their clients. The matrix is at the core of my ACT work, and it was great to have Aika come on placement, to share the matrix with her, and to do this project together.

[@Mana-with-Heather]

I'd love to show this to meditation and yoga clients, especially those in PTSD. Thank you!

[@justme9818]

I have Complex PTSD. I found this too reductive. It's too oversimplified an explanation of the human condition for application with PTSD. The best outcome of it's application would be to have a controlling effect on people rather than a supportive / healing effect. There isn't actually room for genuine healing with this model - the fundamental principles are too far away from the complexity that creates PTSD in the first place.

[@CosmosOfSrishti]

​​@@justme9818 Do you recommend anything else for PTSD? Something you found useful.

[@justme9818]

@@CosmosOfSrishtiI wish I could give you a straight answer. I've found parts of different approaches helpful, but not to the point where I can definitively recommend any one person / modality. I've ended up taking bits from different people's work and coming up with my own strategies. I think ultimately, that's what it takes - a blend of techniques that meets your specific needs. I started out, 20 years ago, with compassionate self observation. It's a Buddhist practice. I'm not Buddhist, but I do practice this technique. You just do it for itself -Not to change anything, or understand anything, just to do it. In and of itself, it inspires change as a natural side effect. I also practice body based meditation. The body is a more reliable source of emotional information than the mind. There are lots of different types. In my experience American psychotherapy / psychology is where the best work is happening in PTSD (at least for English speakers). At the same time, approach any modality / practitioner with caution. PTSD research is still in it's infancy, there's an awful lot practitioners just don't know. It's the biggest barrier to help. There's always been an energetic element to my work. Personally, I don't know how anyone recovers from trauma without energetic help. I wouldn't have gotten this far without it. Anything from Tai chi, to acupuncture, to homeopathy, to whatever spiritual practices you might have in your life. What you need to support you now, won't necessarily be the same as what you need later. It's not like taking medicine, it's more like getting an education and going up through the grades. It can be a terribly lonely road. Society doesn't give us much room at all. I hope there's some help somewhere in this, even if it's only a little. Feel free to reply.

[@janedoe6704]

@@CosmosOfSrishti Not the person you are asking but several people have found IFS to be helpful for PTSD

[@sarahcinnamonthriving9563]

​@CosmosOfSrishti It's important to have trauma-informed supports that understand the significant differences between PTSD versus C-PTSD, in both living with such, and the treatments. Especially as C-PTSD comes from prolonged and severe traumas that often start when a person was pre-verbal, and their brain parts and body systems were not yet developed nor integrated, so may involve Developmental Abuse Damages (ex. somatic, parasympathetic, vagus, neural, hormonal, cardio-vascular, respiratory, nervous systems). There are different treatments, but none work for everyone with C-PTSD. It becomes more like having a toolbox of a variety of approaches, where some help at sometimes, or to an extent, or in combination with others. Things like insomnia/ sleep deprivation, legitimate/ actual stresses like survival traumas or bereavement, hormonal shifts (ex. pregnancy, menopausal), or chronic pain flares, or other conditions (ex. brain injury, serious illness or injury) can all greatly affect one's functionality with treatments as much as anything else. These include: DBT EMDR IFS NLP Hypnotherapy/RTT Yoga Nidra Somatic approaches Poly-vagal therapies

[@Gowerrr]

Your emotions are definitely visible to other people, as your actions and behaviour shows them, the way you speak and what you work towards.

[@nerdyblackcoffeegirl021]

The content i pay my internet bills for!

[@Ivanzieee]

Great video !! Loved it. Hopefully i will do it when i am on the left side as well. Bcz usually we tend to avoid it when we are going through those negative thoughts and feelings. I hope people like this comment to remind me so i can notice. And practice the art of noticing more. Thankyou

[@nemesis2477]

This made me cry a little. About how much I have done the away things in my life.

[@lukecarey613]

You have such a kind voice.

[@loolabel7]

Thank you

[@bettina4686]

Thank you very much for this video. I can now understand the ACT Matrix well and can apply it step by step with my own content. A great viedo, thanks for the effort to create and share it.

[@jorothbaum4114]

Brilliant representation of the Matrix, and a commendation from the creator too!! Well done, so sharable and so easy to understand.

[@loolabel7]

Thank you Jo

[@alszrk]

Great video. Thank you for making this and sharing!

[@LECityLECLEC]

A really beautiful video. I’m looking forward to you making more videos and sharing more psychological analysis/therapy!

[@_creighton]

I find it succinctly odd that humans assume they know what animals are thinking and what motivates them. Just as we do not know when seeing a Rabbit run, whether it's running toward, or away from something; we cannot with any sincere claims of authority, say that what they are running from or towards is generated without them and not within... This projection, I sense, grows at the heart of much human to human mis-communication as well as with our mis-comprehension of the world about us.

[@kinetic-cybernetic]

I agree but don't represent humans with this reflection. It's just a bad reflection. I would love my 15 min back.

[@hearts99]

Well said.

[@nje2409]

Exceptional!!! Have not seen the matrix presented better than this!

[@wendyisgrowinginwisdom6350]

Thank you for this very useful explanation of how to assess motivating factors for our behaviours. I have wanted to change behaviours for so long - but not known HOW. The ACT matrix is a very useful tool to get started. BTW Human beings are not the only creatures affected by trauma as any there are many videos of traumatised animals who exhibit fear behaviours in safe environments (when rescued with foster carers).

[@loolabel7]

Hi - yes I agree. My dog was hurt at the vet, and she won't walk down the road where the vet is, or indeed anywhere near it. Their body stores trauma, but I don't think she's lying here now worrying about it - she has to come into contact with the feared place/object to get stressed. On the other hand, I can imagine it and recall it and my body reacts.

[@sarahdjinn593]

Thank you this is really well written and love the animation :-)

[@hazel7277]

This is the best explanation of the matrix (I did an advanced ACT course) I have seen and really helped me to understand how to use it with clients.

[@Phil97460]

I thought I had posted earlier but it must not have made it to the comments section. This is a wonderful run through the Matrix. You have captured the essence of applying and practicing the point of view. Keep doing what you do!

[@TheOxfordPsych]

Thanks, Phil! Really enjoyed running the talk with you and Kevin the other day.

[@honeythakur509]

I can't thank you enough for sharing this 🙏

[@nockneed6809]

Thanks for your work on this and for sharing.

[@sheilaverna2091]

This is AMAZING! It is the best tool I've come across to use in practice and for helping people understand ACT. Thank you!

[@Diana-co7cl]

love the video, love the voice over, love the illustrations 💗

[@longkesh1971]

Very well done. All the examples were clearly stated and easy to understand.

[@0ptimal]

Good stuff. Like being the conductor of your mental orchestra

[@itsrebeccaconte]

I will leave one page in my bullet journal and make this matrix. This is very helpful thank you!❤️

[@TheOxfordPsych]

I look forward to you sharing how it was Rebecca!

[@casillas12431]

This was beautifully explained and illustrated, welcome back Aika :)

[@TheOxfordPsych]

Thank you!!

[@atomfiresign]

Such valuable information - thank you lightworker 🔥

[@adrose006]

Very interesting and helpful- thanks for sharing ❤

[@colin-nekritz]

This was well done. One thing, some higher animals can, albeit state-related and unlike humans very briefly, think themselves into danger. In their cases it’s usually in their dream state which have some primal similarities in dreams are playing back or reorganizing information within the cerebral cortex that triggers fears or fight-or-flight responses. This has been and can be observed not only in primates but dogs and cats as well, when they’re dreaming and start to try to run, bark, or if you witness them in REM sleep looking like they’re in a struggle and jerk themselves awake. But this is, mostly, to the best of our knowledge, involuntarily working themselves up into a fear state. Humans also to do this but we can do this while we’re awake, conscious, and even do it voluntarily, though most of the time it’s how we’ve programmed ourselves through our life learned events our brains can beat us up, consciously, though again, a mistreated dog or cat can also do this. Which is to say, yes, humans can do this and it’s very observable, but other advanced animals can exhibit these traits, they just can’t watch this video to become aware.

[@imafiretruck7454]

I'd imagine any animal of any species that's ever lost one of the prominent senses over the course of their lifetime(e.g. blindness, deafness) has experienced the psychotic state that is wrestling with our homunculi. Animals appear to be certainly familiar with anxiety from thought

[@marismarismalesmaris]

This is soo great! I love ACT for my OCD and this really helped

[@holy_triinity]

Wow!! Great video, I love it, it help me so so much 💗✨

[@redchairrecovery6834]

Totally brilliant, thank you. Showing it to my clients already.

[@idlikemoreprivacy9716]

Thanks! I was looking for a form of help where the provider didn't impose the assumption something in me was "broken" or "wrong" or I was alien to some obvious "truth".

[@juliannedouglas6910]

This is great! Love it so much I used it with my group and even shared it with my boyfriend :-P super great explanation and the drawings to go along. Thanks for making great content like this!

[@clarenapier4525]

Well done Louise and Aika. I think this is a fantastic resource. Thanks so much for sharing.

[@TheOxfordPsych]

Thank you!

[@Spiritmeetsbone]

What a wonderful video. Thank you

[@dcoleman4444]

I learned this in NLP as well...nice job.

[@loolabel7]

Thank you!

[@lindahebb4832]

Thank you for posting

[@NaheedMan]

Thank you. This was so useful

[@raksharajesh]

Thank you for this! This is so nice and simple yet effective! Looking out for more content on ACT from you!

[@helenrichards2762]

Thank you so much for this video! Definitely helpful for a new clinician like me! Thank you from San Antonio, Texas!!

[@JBOhardhatdiver]

Thank you so much for showing such a realistic application of the matrix.

[@randallwillis5662]

Thanks for this. Very approachable & welcoming

[@yvonnebuscher990]

Thanks for this great and useful Video. Even as a German I find it very useful.❤

[@CML95018]

I absolutely love this thank you 🙏❤

[@AsriWidyastuti]

What an awesome video and explanation. Thank you 😊

[@rep1532]

Very cool video on the matrix

[@shawnbeak6048]

This is insanely helpful. Thank you.

[@psi.larissalucena]

Simplesmente perfeito! Muito bem elaborado e didático!

[@LECityLECLEC]

Wow I loved this video so much came back to study it again and share it with friends and then I noticed we are both Huis from HK :D!

[@stevensvideosonyoutube]

Thank you for offering your help.

[@sado2uk]

This is perfect! Models like this are what we need - please flood your uploads with more models like this 🙂

[@TheOxfordPsych]

I really enjoyed making this video and do hope we’ll make more!

[@sado2uk]

Please do! Having actionable models that psychologists use and how to use them are so hard to find, and I personally find them so useful. They are the raw tools that I need - I'll figure the rest out 🙃

[@devanganagera1456]

Great work!!

[@darrelmiller8865]

awareness leads to better action

[@Dr.RivkaEdery]

Brilliant ❤ Thank you 🙏😊

[@BenedictGS]

Powerful

[@duytdl]

Good stuff

[@jaiannae108]

Reviewing this video just before your podcast today! Immensely helpful in putting my current thoughts and actions into perspective, which I think is crucial now more than ever because I'm applying for university and hopefully I will start my journey of Psychology! Thank you, very informative :)

[@loolabel7]

That's great Jaianna! It's a wonderful tool - good luck with your application.

[@lyviaray8819]

Excellent illustration, Aika! Missed you

[@NiallsSongs]

Beautiful presentation.

[@aracelimichelena6535]

I absolutely love this!!

[@kb3146]

Thank you :)

[@kavitarao7606]

Awesome ❤

[@StealingLightLtd]

All animals feel fear and happiness. They mourn, get depressed. Humans are not the only creatures who can be somewhere safe and feel pain, fear, etc. Pets who have been abused. Elephants mourning loss of family. Dogs are a prime example when abused. It take a lot of love and physcological teaching to show a canine it doesnt need to fear anymore. A sublte small point to focus on for a great learning tool but humans often neglect animals due to this naive thought that we are the only beings who have internal thoughts

[@StealingLightLtd]

Even mice have language. It's recently proven they communicate on a much deeper level than we thought possible. Again naive to think we are the only ones with language merely because we can't understand other creatures.

[@BH_tradie]

Was only just introduced to act last week from a relatively poor quality, work referred therapist, that recommended I "google" how to fix my issues. This has been an invaluable perspective and the best description of how to begin self improvement using act. Thanks for taking the time to present such a brilliantly thought out tool kit. ❤❤

[@justme9818]

You should report that therapist... Who knows how much actual harm they've done if they're that rubbish...

[@johnnycomelately6341]

Brilliant

[@aracelimichelena6535]

This is so cool!!! If you don’t mind me asking, ¿how did you record and edit this? ¿Did you use a software? Big hug!!

[@Tmoneysjdjdk]

Love this

[@liisvastra6857]

What an amazing resource. Thank you for this vodeo!

[@loolabel7]

Thank you! So glad it is helping people

[@kombuh8572]

Thanks for this beautiful video! As I was doing the exercise, I find it hard to tell 'away' from 'towards'. For example, the rabbit is running away from danger and towards safety, or running away from boredom towards a lovely flower. Does the "away" part have to "feel bad"?? But then aren't all emotions just emotions, not good or bad? For my top left quadrant "what would I be seen doing when I'm trying to move away from uncomfortable thoughts and feelings", I usually meditate, write/journal or talk to a friend. However, it seems like the exercise is expecting me to write some 'unwanted' behaviors in the top left area 😓 What do y'all think? :) ps. doomscrolling is definitely also in my top left quadrant 😂 but where to draw the vertical line is generally confusing for me.

[@Gowerrr]

Yeah I don't agree with the setup of this chart. Away from Away is the same direction as towards Towards, which would make the entire top half the same things. I understand the negative vs. positive habits, but its presented very poorly.

[@TheOxfordPsych]

Hey! It just means that you have very good top right behaviours that are towards your values, which is a great thing to notice! Another really important point is that one behaviour can be in both top left and right - for example, if you are forcing yourself to meditate to avoid negative feelings, it might actually fall also in top left as well as top right. Hopefully that clarifies things!

[@talassa4670]

great, like the presentaion, did you make it with Doodly or other software?

[@opeyemisammychiyembekezomi1006]

What would I do if I or the closest person to me being in away outside more than towards outside? How would towards outside be gained more, and how would I be able to engage with them more?

[@PaulaDTozer]

Did you deliberately use a lowercase i on inside to indicate intimacy? The inner landscape?

[@Awesomes007]

It’s difficult to do while crippled mentally and physically by post viral long covid damage. Does it matter what I write? I’ll spend almost all my time in pain or trying to sleep. If you think you’re lonely and isolated and stuck, try it without any of the tools usable to improve things.

[@pixnay]

This sounds awful and I am so sorry. I know it can be really difficult.

[@blueshoes915]

Does this work if you have ADHD and anxiety? I will definitely try it. Thanks.

[@TristineBarry]

Thank you!!

[@mikamycat603]

thank you ❤❤❤❤❤

[@bethbradley1986]

Thank you

[@mirceaecrim1]

Why did you delete all the other videos ? They were good.🌟

[@TheOxfordPsych]

It’ll be unarchived in a month or so :)

[@PawsIIPause]

1:09 rabbit must bite dog should it stand in it's way.

[@pnadatia1]

beautiful

[@meghasharma5946]

How to make such kind of animated videos ?

[@maisalvatori9430]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@jarrettetal.1680]

Hey have you taken down your video of you doing the timed exam? Can' find it x

[@carolina.eugenia]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@lauraanne5175]

I don't see how this is different than "playing the tape forward" or mindfulness.

[@wendylcs4283]

Or fake it until you make it (feels like force yourself until you get there) I do this but, it's been years and i'm still forcing myself. not a nice feeling, i want it to come natural to me.

[@K-ty2fk]

💗