Self as context Contact with the present moment is intimately related with the development of Self as Context. The therapist might say ‘And as you notice that, notice that there is a part of you noticing all these things’ The point of self as context is to connect with the ‘observing self’

Distinguishing the conceptualized self from self as context The question ‘What is the self’ has troubled scientists, philosophers and theologians for hundreds of years From an ACT perspective there are two important senses of self Self as conceptualized (which is useful to human survival but can also lead to great suffering and limitation) Self as context (which is liberating and an avenue to decrease suffering)

The conceptualized self (self as content) Over the course of time we learn to build a coherent story of ‘who we are’ Unfortunately, these stories, which are created by our minds, can function to restrict our behaviour in certain contexts For example, I cant go the party because I'm not a ‘social person’ The conceptualized self refers to the many stories that we have built up about ourselves over the course of time Indeed all the many ways we say ‘I am……’ are all beliefs about who we are And we tend to believe these as labels that represent who we ‘truly’ are

There is nothing inherently wrong with these stories we build up For example, they often help us to function well – we may act professionally (turn up for work on time) because it fits in with our view of who we are ‘I am professional’ Unfortunately however, these same stories which may control our behaviour in positive ways can also restrict us to live within their confines Whole lives can become dictated by our attachment to the conceptualized self Think of the abused child who makes most of his decision based on the story ‘I'm damaged goods’

The bottom line is that we do not know each day of our lives, we instead make broad generalizations about ‘who we are’ based on a small amount of information These stories might represent ‘truth’ in some capacity. But would you rather believe your stories as ‘truth’ and live a limited life, or hold those stories lightly and live a life that your value? The stories that we have can sometimes imprison us. It is for the this reason that Steve Hayes said ‘Kill your self every day’

Self as context Self as context is the sense of self that is continuous, stable and always there It is the sense of self that can step back and observe the conceptualized self in action It is often referred to as the ‘observer self’. The self that doesn’t get caught in believing the content of the conceptualized self (I am damaged goods) but the sense of self that can see such stories for what they are In ACT, fostering self as context empowers the client to observe experience more freely and get on with the business of living, instead of trying to eliminate negative feelings before any valued direction can be taken

The main goal of fostering self as context, in the therapy situation, is to help the client to establish or re-connect with the continuous sense of self that is involved in observing the moment by moment flow of thought and emotion as on-going experience, rather than as believed or disbelieved instances of thinking to which the client must respond

SAC in Therapy A variety of techniques are used to help people make contact with themselves as observers, and to let go of who they believe themselves to be (conceptualized self) Metaphor Chessboard metaphor Brief interventions Suit analogy Experiential exercises Mindfulness exercises (observer self exercise) The point of these exercises often boils down to the question ‘who is noticing that experience?’ For further details of these techniques, refer to the book chapter

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