Dr. Carole Myers: Welcome to Health Connections. The show about people health and policy. I'm Dr. Carole Myers. Stress is part of everyday life. Our response to stress and what is happening in a person's current life defines various short term behavioral therapies that feature accessible, focused treatment with clear goals and the development of specific skills. I'm joined today by licensed clinical social worker Melanie McGhee. Melanie is the developer of a short term behavioral therapy called acceptance and integration training, or we may refer to it as AAIT. Welcome to Health Connections. Melanie.
Melanie McGhee: Thank you. Dr Myers.
Myers: What is the genesis or the rationale behind short term behavioral therapies in general?
McGhee: The genesis in rationale is that we understand that people really don't have a lot of time and resources to invest in their mental health care, and so we are looking to provide care that is effective, efficient and durable.
Myers: Let's dig in a little deeper. What are some of the key points that define short term behavioral therapies?
McGhee: Well, with acceptance and integration training, what we're looking at is really helping people discover the freedom that can be found in self acceptance and being able to engage in introspection that is kind and compassionate with themselves and helps them to discover more freedom from their compulsive and automatic reactions that could cause problems for them.
Myers: Let's talk a little bit more. Dig down a little bit deeper. What might that look like? Those are not necessarily terms or concepts that people may have encountered previously. So what does it mean if I come to you and I'm dealing with some everyday life stress?
McGhee: Well, one of the first things we might look at is, what are the kind of stories that you're telling yourself, and are those stories kind? Are they informed by what's real and alive for you? And how can you develop more curiosity and compassion for yourself.
Myers: What's the core concept? What's the glue that holds together? AAIT?
McGhee: I think that one of the significant points is we have a principle called resolving reactivity reveals higher states of consciousness, or higher states of awareness. So when we have some issue that causes some emotional or mental reaction within us that feels outside of our control. Once we resolve that issue, we have more freedom and more space to make choices that are more in alignment with our own values and our highest goals for ourselves.
Myers: I was reading a little bit about AAIT therapy. I saw the term self acceptance. Could you talk more about because that seemed to be central.
McGhee: Yes, self acceptance. And what we mean by self acceptance is it's not necessarily that you agree with or that you approve of. Self acceptance is experiencing ourselves in any given moment without the inhibition of criticism, judgment or evaluation, so it's present focused awareness on what we are experiencing without criticism, self evaluation or judgment.
Myers: It's inevitable that we're going to face life stresses, and we're going to want to be able to cope better. Any parting words to folks about how to address that very common human problem?
McGhee: I think that if, if you find yourself feeling bad, one of the first things to do is just begin paying attention to what's the story I'm telling I myself and begin to uproot those negative stories that are outdated and no longer serve you.
Myers: How do I know when I need to get professional help about that?
McGhee: If it's not easy for you to drop those stories that would be a time to get help.
This transcript has been lightly edited for content.
