Committed actions (derived from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) are those that enable the client to behave in ways that are consistent with their new-found values and intentions.
Acting in ways that are consistent with our values can enhance motivation and allow us to engage in behaviours in the service of our mental health and wellbeing. Psychedelic sessions may reveal ways in which we are not acting consistently with our deepest values. Alternatively, they may help us to discover what these values are, and integration can be a time to explore how we may bring behavioural change into alignment with our values and intentions.
This stage is when concrete tasks may be developed collaboratively between the client and health professional to optimize the client’s desired outcomes. Developing such a behavioural plan is a way for the client to keep the work alive, continuing the learnings that have been gleaned from the psychedelic Medicine Session(s) and the application of them to everyday life.
Some of the ways of working with committed actions:
Delineating important values to the client that have become salient from the sessions.
Establishing concrete goals or tasks derived from intentions and the Medicine sessions.
Note: ensure they are manageable and consistent with stated and relevant values.
Determine behaviours that move the client away from their intentions/values.
Supporting the client to move towards behaviours that are consistent with intentions or values.
Describing behaviours as concrete positive actions, rather than as “not doing” old actions they wish to change.
Eliciting what is motivating for the client to increase the likelihood of intended behaviours occurring.