Tag: Contextual Behavioral Science

The Rules We Live By

We all follow rules.
It’s hard to live without them.
We have rules for how to apologize, how to love, even how to make coffee.
But psychological flexibility begins when we ask:
does this rule still work in this context?
For example:
“If I’m angry, I should stay silent until I calm down.”
Sometimes that rule prevents harm.
Sometimes it quietly becomes avoidance, distance, and emotional disconnection.
And sometimes the people around us follow very different rules about anger.
One person believes anger should be controlled and hidden.
Another believes anger should be expressed immediately and directly.
So the conflict is no longer just about the thing that made you angry.
Now you begin fighting about how a person is supposed to be angry.
A good rule is not one that is obeyed no matter what.

A good rule is one that stays sensitive to context.

Better People, Better Country

Contextual Behavioral Science is about helping individuals adapt more effectively to the contexts they live in — while also helping societies build contexts that empower individuals to thrive.

It is an approach to understanding human behavior that can be applied far beyond therapy:
toward better people for a better country,
and a better country for better people.

Interview Conducted with Dr. Matthieu Villatte!

Perhaps we are making Philippine history here!

Here’s a video of my interview with Matthieu Villatte, PhD who is an Assistant Professor at Bastyr University in Seattle, WA in the United States.

He obtained his doctoral degree in psychology in France, where he was trained as a clinical psychologist. He moved to the US in 2010 to complete a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Nevada, Reno under the mentorship of Steven Hayes, PhD. 

Matthieu Villatte is the author of numerous books and chapters on mindfulness, acceptance, experiential therapies, and contextual behavioral science, such as the first manual published in French on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Mastering the Clinical Conversation: Language as Intervention, co-authored by Jennifer Villatte and Steven Hayes.

In the video, we talked about how the principles of behavioral therapy apply to everyday lives of people, the OFW or migrant worker phenomenon prevailing in the Philippines, as well as the pandemic!

Listen to the audio version on Spotify! Click here!