Hartford Region Mini-Meeting
Date: September 28, 2024
Time: 11 am - 2 pm
Where: West Hartford, CT
Presenter: Carol Freedman, LCSW, PhD
The contemporary psychotherapy world is abuzz with talk of acceptance: DBT, ACT, mindfulness practice and therapies that draw on Buddhist principles. In my clinical work, both in private practice and as part of an intensive outpatient program, I have taken to listening more to the varied ways in which individuals talk about what they feel they are coming to accept, or have accepted, in therapy. My paper focuses on several clinical vignettes that illustrate two ways of talking about acceptance that I heard frequently: accepting the inescapability of certain thoughts and feelings, and accepting an autobiographical narrative that explains my thoughts and feelings. I argue that both these types of acceptance can serve an important psychological function. Accepting the inescapability of certain thoughts and feelings involves relating to them as happening to me, draws on the Buddhist tradition of non-attachment and is the foundation for self-compassion, as popularized by Kristin Neff. Accepting a certain autobiographical narrative of my thoughts and feelings, by contrast, involves relating to them as part of me, integral to who I am, and in this sense, it is a striving for the internalization of parental love.
Please note: space is limited to 20 registrants.
If you have any questions about this event,
please contact Robert Hamm or Bri Pollock.
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