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    A Process-Based Analysis of Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy


    Assaz, Daniel A., Tyndall, Ian, Oshiro, Claudia K.B. and Roche, Bryan (2023) A Process-Based Analysis of Cognitive Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Behavior Therapy, 54 (6). pp. 1020-1035. ISSN 0005-7894

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    Abstract

    Cognitive defusion is among the main components of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a contextual behavioral approach to psychotherapy. Defusion serves as a middle-level term, and, as such, may be useful for applying and disseminating behavior science, despite its lower precision. However, some authors argue that for middle-level terms in psychotherapy to be useful to clinicians, they need to be clearly linked to basic behavioral concepts, with higher precision; and that this is not currently the case with defusion. Our objective is to increase the pragmatic utility of the concept of “cognitive defusion” by providing a more nuanced, multifaceted and process-based definition of the term. In order to do this, we surveyed the ACT literature regarding defusion and critically examined it through the lens of conceptual analysis. This culminated in a revised and updated conceptualization of defusion in terms of its relationship to basic behavioral concepts, in which defusion is an outcome that may be achieved through different processes.
    Item Type: Article
    Keywords: acceptance and commitment therapy; ACT; cognitive defusion; middle-level terms; behavioral processes;
    Academic Unit: Assisting Living & Learning,ALL institute
    Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
    Item ID: 18515
    Identification Number: 10.1016/j.beth.2022.06.003
    Depositing User: Dr. Bryan Roche
    Date Deposited: 14 May 2024 14:49
    Journal or Publication Title: Behavior Therapy
    Publisher: Elsevier
    Refereed: Yes
    Related URLs:
    URI: https://mu.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/18515
    Use Licence: This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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