Abstract
Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and its counterpart, relational frame theory (RFT), represent emerging areas of research and professional interest for behavior analysts. We extend traditional RFT approaches by emphasizing relational framing as a dynamic pattern of behavior with implications for ACT-based strategies implemented by behavior analysts in practice and in research. We borrow from emerging approaches within affective dynamics, relational density theory, and the hyper-dimensional multilevel model to develop some immediate considerations for practitioners. We then extend an approach grounded in relational dynamics to the six core processes of the ACT hexaflex not only to influence negative affective patterns of relational behavior but also to promote greater psychological flexibility and well-being. Finally, we turn this account inward to discuss our own rigidity as a field and the necessity to engage more flexibly with our own science, ultimately to improve the lives of clients whom we serve.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baer, D. M., Wolf, M. M., & Risley, T. R. (1968). Some current dimensions of applied behavior analysis. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1, 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1968.1-91.
Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., & McEnteggart, C. (2020a). Updating RFT (more field than frame) and its implications for process-based therapy. The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-019-00372-3.
Barnes-Holmes, D., Barnes-Holmes, Y., Power, P., Hayden, E., Milne, R., & Stewart, I. (2006). Do you really know what you believe? Developing the Implicit Relational Assessment Procedure (IRAP) as a direct measure of implicit beliefs. The Irish Psychologist, 32, 169–177.
Barnes-Holmes, Y., Barnes-Holmes, D., McHugh, L., & Hayes, S. C. (2004). Relational frame theory: Some implications for understanding and treating human psychopathology. International Journal of Psychology and Psychological Therapy, 4, 355–375.
Barnes-Holmes, Y., McEnteggart, C., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2020b). Recent conceptual and empirical advances in RFT: Implications for developing process-based assessments and interventions. In M. E. Levin, M. P. Twohig, & J. Krafft (Eds.), Innovations in acceptance and commitment therapy: Clinical advancements and applications in ACT. Raincoast Books, pp. 41–53.
Baum, W. M. (2002). From molecular to molar: A paradigm shift in behavior analysis. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 78, 95–116. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2002.78-95.
Belisle, J. (2020). Model dependent realism and the rule-governed behavior of behavior analysts: Applications to derived relational responding. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 43, 321–342. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-020-00247-x.
Belisle, J., & Dixon, M. R. (2020a). An exploratory analysis of relational density theory: Relational resistance and gravity. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 16, 80–95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.01.013.
Belisle, J., & Dixon, M. R. (2020b). Relational density theory: Nonlinearity of equivalence relating examined through higher-order volumetric-mass-density. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 43, 259–283. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-020-00248-w.
Belisle, J., & Clayton, M. (2021). Coherence and the merging of relational classes in self-organizing networks: Extending Relational Density Theory. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 20, 118–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2021.03.008.
Blazer, D., Hughes, D. C., & George, L. K. (1987). The epidemiology of depression in an elderly community population. The Gerontologist, 27(3), 281–287. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/27.3.281.
Catania, C. (2013). Learning. Sloan Publishing.
Cramer, A. O., Van Borkulo, C. D., Giltay, E. J., Van Der Maas, H. L., Kendler, K. S., Scheffer, M., & Borsboom, D. (2016). Major depression as a complex dynamic system. PLOS ONE, 11(12), e0167490. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0167490.
Critchfield, T. S., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Dougher, M. J. (2018). What Sidman did—Historical and contemporary significance of research on derived stimulus relations. Perspectives on Behavior Science, 41, 9–32. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40614-018-0154-9.
Dejonckheere, E., Mestdagh, M., Houben, M., Rutten, I., Sels, L., Kuppens, P., & Tuerlinckx, F. (2019). Complex affect dynamics add limited information to the prediction of psychological well-being. Nature Human Behaviour, 3, 478–491. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-019-0555-0.
Dixon, M. R., Hayes, S. C., Stanley, C., Law, S., & al-Nasser, T. (2020). Is acceptance and commitment training or therapy (ACT) a method that applied behavior analysts can and should use? The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00436-9.
Dougher, M. J., Hamilton, D. A., Fink, B. C., & Harrington, J. (2007). Transformation of the discriminative and eliciting functions of generalized relational stimuli. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 88, 179–197. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2007.45-05.
Frijda, N. H. (2007). The laws of emotion. Erlbaum.
Goldiamond, I. (1974). Toward a constructional approach to social problems: Ethical and constitutional issues raised by applied behavior analysis. Behaviorism, 2(1), 1–84.
Hayes, S. C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Roche, B. (2001). Relational frame theory: A post-Skinnerian account of human language and cognition. Springer Science & Business Media.
Hayes, S. C., Strosahl, K. D., & Wilson, K. G. (2011). Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change. Guilford Press.
Hayes, S. C., & Wilson, K. G. (2003). Mindfulness: Method and process. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 10, 161–165. https://doi.org/10.1093/clipsy.bpg018.
Hooper, N., Villatte, M., Neofotistou, E., & McHugh, L. (2010). The effects of mindfulness versus thought suppression on implicit and explicit measures of experiential avoidance. International Journal of Behavioral Consultation and Therapy, 6, 233–244. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0100910.
Houben, M., Van Den Noortgate, W., & Kuppens, P. (2015). The relation between short-term emotion dynamics and psychological well-being: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 141, 901–930.
Hussey, I., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2012). The implicit relational assessment procedure as a measure of implicit depression and the role of psychological flexibility. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 19, 573–582. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cbpra.2012.03.002.
Iskarous, K. (2017). The relation between the continuous and the discrete: A note on the first principles of speech dynamics. Journal of Phonetics, 64, 8–20. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wocn.2017.05.003.
Ivancic, M., & Belisle, J. (2019). Resolving barriers to an applied science of the human condition: Rule governance and the verbal behavior of applied scientists. The Analysis of Verbal Behavior, 35, 196–220. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40616-019-00117-x.
Jenson, W. R., Clark, E., Kircher, J. C., & Kristjansson, S. D. (2007). Statistical reform: Evidence-based practice, meta-analyses, and single subject designs. Psychology in the Schools, 44, 483–493. https://doi.org/10.1002/pits.20240.
Kanter, J. W., Busch, A. M., Weeks, C. E., & Landes, S. J. (2008). The nature of clinical depression: Symptoms, syndromes, and behavior analysis. The Behavior Analyst, 31, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392158.
Kelso, J. S. (1995). Dynamic patterns: The self-organization of brain and behavior. MIT Press.
Kuhn, T. S. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. University of Chicago Press.
Larsen, R. J. (2000). Towards a science of mood regulation. Psychological Inquiry, 11, 129–141. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15327965PLI1103_01.
Layng, T. J. (2009). The search for an effective clinical behavior analysis: The nonlinear thinking of Israel Goldiamond. The Behavior Analyst, 32, 163–184. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392181.
Luoma, J. B., & Platt, M. G. (2015). Shame, self-criticism, self-stigma, and compassion in acceptance and commitment therapy. Current Opinion in Psychology, 2, 97–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2014.12.016.
Marr, J. (1996). A mingled yarn. The Behavior Analyst, 19, 19–33. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392736.
Marr, M. J. (1992). Behavior dynamics: One perspective. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 57, 249–266. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.1992.57-249.
McAuliffe, D., Hughes, S., & Barnes-Holmes, D. (2014). The dark-side of rule governed behavior: An experimental analysis of problematic rule-following in an adolescent population with depressive symptomatology. Behavior Modification, 38, 587–613. https://doi.org/10.1177/0145445514521630.
Niyogi, P., & Berwick, R. C. (1997). A dynamical systems model for language change. Complex Systems, 11, 161–204.
Numan, A. (2017). Test-anxiety-provoking stimuli among undergraduate students. Journal of Behavioural Sciences, 27, 1–20.
Paliliunas, D., Belisle, J., & Dixon, M. R. (2018). A randomized control trial to evaluate the use of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to increase academic performance and psychological flexibility in graduate students. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 11, 241–253. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-018-0252-x.
Pidgeon, A., McEnteggart, C., Harte, C., Barnes-Holmes, D., & Barnes-Holmes, Y. (2020). Four self-related : Analyzing and interpreting effects in light of the DAARRE model. The Psychological Record. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-020-00428-9
Plumb, J. C., Stewart, I., Dahl, J., & Lundgren, T. (2009). In search of meaning: Values in modern clinical behavior analysis. The Behavior Analyst, 32, 85–103. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392177.
Salazar, D. M., Ruiz, F. J., Ramírez, E. S., & Cardona-Betancourt, V. (2020). Acceptance and commitment therapy focused on repetitive negative thinking for child depression: A randomized multiple-baseline evaluation. The Psychological Record, 70, 373–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40732-019-00362-5.
Shapiro, Y. (2015). Dynamical systems therapy (DST): Theory and practical applications. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 25, 83–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/10481885.2015.991245.
Shimp, C. P. (2013). Toward the unification of molecular and molar analyses. The Behavior Analyst, 36, 295–312. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03392316.
Tarbox, J., Szabo, T. G., & Aclan, M. (2020). Acceptance and commitment training within the scope of practice of applied behavior analysis. Behavior Analysis in Practice. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-020-00466-3.
Thelen, E., Kelso, J. S., & Fogel, A. (1987). Self-organizing systems and infant motor development. Developmental Review, 7, 39–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/0273-2297(87)90004-9.
Trull, T. J., Lane, S. P., Koval, P., & Ebner-Priemer, U. W. (2015). Affective dynamics in psychopathology. Emotion Review, 7, 355–361. https://doi.org/10.1177/1754073915590617.
Twohig, M. P., & Levin, M. E. (2017). Acceptance and commitment therapy as a treatment for anxiety and depression: A review. Psychiatric Clinics, 40, 751–770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2017.08.009.
Twohig, M. P., Shoenberger, D., & Hayes, S. C. (2007). A preliminary investigation of acceptance and commitment therapy as a treatment for marijuana dependence in adults. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 40, 619–632. https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.2007.619-632.
Van Hooren, B., Meijer, K., & McCrum, C. (2019). Attractive gait training: Applying dynamical systems theory to the improvement of locomotor performance across the lifespan. Frontiers in Physiology, 9, 1934. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2018.01934.
Yadavaia, J. E., Hayes, S. C., & Vilardaga, R. (2014). Using acceptance and commitment therapy to increase self-compassion: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 3, 248–257. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcbs.2014.09.002.
Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, or publication of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethical Approval
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional human subjects committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
Conflict of Interest
The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Belisle, J., Dixon, M.R. Relational Behavior and ACT: A Dynamic Relationship. Behav Analysis Practice 15, 71–82 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-021-00599-z
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-021-00599-z