being flexible with dropping anchor

Being Flexible With Dropping Anchor(Don’t Stick To The Script!)Practical Tips For ACT Therapists

By Russ Harris, author of ACT Made Simple and The Happiness Trap

What Goes Wrong?

In this eBook, we’re going to look at a very flexible mindfulness practice which I call ‘Dropping Anchor’: a powerful intervention for disengagement, emotion dsyregulation, worrying, ruminating, panic attacks, dissociation, extreme fusion, emotional overwhelm, and a whole lot more. It's a quick and simple skill to learn - but sometimes therapists and clients get a bit stuck, for a variety of reasons. This eBook doesn't cover all the basic nuts of bolts of dropping anchor - how to introduce it it to clients and use it with a range of issues (for that, you'll need to check out my textbook, ACT Made Simple, 2nd edition or do one of my online courses). Instead, what we're looking at here is how to adapt and modify this practice to get past common sticking points. Almost always, when therapists get a bit stuck with dropping anchor, it’s because they keep …

STICKING TO THE SCRIPT!

We could create hundreds, if not thousands, of different dropping anchor practices, through improvising around the three central processes, which we can remember with the acronym ACE:

A - Acknowledge your inner experience C - Connect with your bodyE – Engage in what you’re doing

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

Note: as alternatives, A can be ‘Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings’ or ‘Acknowledge your inner world’; C can be ‘Come back into your body’; and E can be ‘Engage in the world’ or 'Engage in current activity'.)

There is no need to follow a script when doing dropping anchor exercises, and you can make them last for as short or as long as you like, from 20 seconds to 20 minutes.

If you’re not familiar with dropping anchor, the next two pages will take you through it. So if you know it well, skip ahead. And here’s a handout for clients that explains what it is and how it can help them.

You can also download or stream some free audio recordings of ‘dropping anchor’ exercises, varying from 1 minute to 11 minutes in length, from the top left hand box on this webpage.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/165wBG0SVudYnH_Cw11_YV_AKL60Ub3Rc/view?usp=sharing

https://www.actmindfully.com.au/free-stuff/free-audio/


DROPPING ANCHOR: ACKNOWLEDGE, CONNECT, ENGAGE

• Slowlypushingyourfeetintothefloor

• Slowly straightening up your back and spine; if in a chair, try sitting upright and forward

• Slowlypressingyourfingertipstogether

• Slowly stretching your arms or neck, shrugging your shoulders

• Slowly breathing in and out (very gently, not deeply)

A = ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS

C = CONNECT WITH YOUR BODY

Silently and kindly acknowledge whatever is ‘showing up’ inside you: thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories, sensations, urges. Take the stance of a curious scientist, observing what’s going on in your inner world. Notice: What’s your mind doing? What thoughts are ‘popping up’? What’s happening in your body? What feelings are ‘showing up’? Acknowledge whatever thoughts and feelings are present. If you can, put this into words. You can silently say to yourself something like, ‘I’m noticing anxiety’, or ‘Here’s grief’, or ‘There’s my mind worrying’ or ‘I’m having a feeling of sadness’ or ‘I’m having thoughts about being stupid’. And while continuing to acknowledge your thoughts and feelings, also ....

Come back into and connect with your physical body. Find your own way of doing this. You couldtrysomeorallofthefollowing,orfindyourownmethods:


E = ENGAGE IN WHAT YOU’RE DOING

Note: you are not trying to turn away from, escape, avoid or distract yourself from what is happening in your inner world. The aim is to remain aware of your thoughts and feelings, continue to acknowledge their presence .... and at the same time, connect with your body, and actively move it. Why? So you can gain as much control as possible over your physical actions, (even though you can’t control your thoughts and feelings). And as you acknowledge your thoughts & feelings, and connect with your body, also ....

Get a sense of where you are and refocus your attention on the activity you are doing. Find your own way of doing this. You could try some or all of the following suggestions, or find your own methods:

Ideally, run through the ACE cycle slowly 3 to 6 times, to turn it into a 2 to 4 minute exercise. (You can, of course, make it go for much longer, if desired.) The exercise successfully concludes when you are a) aware of your thoughts and feelings, but notfightingwithorcontrolledbythem,b)incontrolofyourphysicalactions,andc)focusingon and engaging in what you are doing.

• Look around the room and notice 5 things you can see

• Notice 3 or 4 things you can hear

• Notice what you can smell or taste or sense in your nose and mouth

• Notice what you are doing

• Give your full attention to the task or activity at hand


DROP THE SCRIPT!

As long as we’re repeatedly cycling through these processes - Acknowledge, Connect, Engage - we’re dropping anchor’, and there’s no need to follow a specific script. So for example, suppose you are following a sequence a bit like the script on the previous page, and your client says:

• ‘Thisistoooverwhelming,Ican’tfocusonallthesedifferentthings.’

• ‘I don’t want to focus on my body; it’s too painful/ I don’t like the way it feels.’

• ‘I can’t focus on anything. Everything feels too painful.’

What these comments tell you is … drop the script! Stop following the script instructions, and insteadworkflexiblywiththeACEprocesses.Whatfollowsaresomesuggestionstogetyouthinking.


A: ACKNOWLEDGE T: So take a moment to acknowledge right now you’re overwhelmed/everything feels too painful/you can’t focus/it’s all too much/you want to just give up and lie down/you feel hopeless… etc. Ideally, use the client’s own words to describe their inner experience. If they can’tidentifyspecificthoughts,feelings,emotions,memoriesorsensationsthat’sokay–justacknowledge they are ‘struggling with something very painful’ (or use some similar expression).

C: CONNECT If the client can’t speak:

T:Canyounodyourhead,toshowyoucanstillhearme?Okay,sonoticethis–you’rehavingsomereallydifficultfeelingsrightnow…andatthesametimeyoucanmoveyourneckandyour head to communicate, and you can also use your ears to hear me. So there are all these difficultfeelingshere…andthere’sabodyherethatyoucanuseinvariousways…tohearthings and to move and to communicate …

If the client is listening, speaking, communicating:

T:Okay,sonoticethis–you’rehavingsomereallydifficultfeelingsrightnow…andatthesametime, you’re able to use your body; you’re using yourears to hear me … and your mouth to talk to me … and your neck to gently nod your head … And can you shift your position in the chair a little, see if you can get more comfortable … So thereareallthesedifficultfeelingshererightnow…andthere’sabodyherethatyoucanuseinvarious ways … to see, to hear, to move, to communicate …

When The Client Is Overwhelmed


After we’ve done this we can then highlight Connecting with the body at the same time as Acknowledging inner experience:

T:(Acknowledging)Sotherearesomedifficultthoughtsfeelingspresentforyourightnow…and you have a body around those feelings (Connecting) that you’re using right now … using your eyes to see, and your ears to hear, and your lungs to breathe … and notice how you can move your body, and make contact with things around you, and communicate with me, even while those feelings are here ….”And we can then move on to …

Examples:

Flexibly Connecting With The Body

To connect with the body, we can ask clients to notice anything through the 5 senses and at the same time highlight the body part involved in doing the sensing

• Using your eyes now to look around …

• Using your ears to hear my voice …

• Using your back and your legs to gently change your position in the chair … to shift to a

more comfortable position ... to ease yourself back against the chair … or to sit forwards if

you prefer … or cross/uncross your legs … whatever you prefer …

• Using your nose and lungs to gently inhale …

• Using your neck to gently nod your head …

• Using your hands to gently feel the surface of whatever they are touching …

• Using your chest walls to breathe in and out …


E: ENGAGE

T: So see if you can use this body now to engage with the world around you; open your eyes and ears, and notice - what can you see and hear in the room around you? For example, can you notice you and me here, working together? Can you notice the feeling of the chair beneath you?Sotherearedifficultfeelingshere,andabodythatyoucanuse,andawholeworldaroundyou … and can you notice what we’re doing here, right now … communicating with each otherandworkingtogether,evenwithallthesedifficultfeelingspresent?


A – Acknowledge: Rightnowyouarestrugglingwithsomethingverydifficultthatyoucan’tcurrently put in words …

C- Connect: See if you can nod your head a little just to show me that you can hear me … andnotice that you’re nodding your head right now, using the muscles of your neck to move it …. And see if you can also gently tap one of your feet up and down … either one .. that’s it … and just notice it moving … and see if you can also move the other foot …. (additional instructions might involve opening their eyes or shifting position in the chair or noticing how their back leans against the chair or noticing their ribcage rising and falling as they breathe, or tapping fingers,andsoon.)

E – Engage: Sothere’ssomethingverydifficultyou’restrugglingwithrightnow,andatthesametimeyoucanmoveyourbodyinvariousways–nodyourhead,tapyourfeet,changeyour position (mentions any other things the client just did with their body in the Connect process)… and see if you can also really get a sense of my voice, reaching you … you don’t have to look at me, just get a sense of where I’m sitting, how I’m speaking … a sense of you and me working together here

If the client is responsive to the therapist ... even if they are so overwhelmed, frozen or dissociatedthattheycandonothingbutsilentlynodtheirheadortapafootorafinger...that’s enough to make a start on the ACE process. Instructions might include:

The ACE Cycle

The idea is to flexibly work with ACE, cycling through these processes, until the client is mindfully grounded: that is, aware of their inner experience, with a reasonable degree of control over their physical actions, and able to engage in and focus on current activity in the therapy session.


Can We Skip From A to E Without the C?

Yes, we can. But the C adds an extra useful element; it gives a sense of regaining some control over physical actions, which is often very useful, especially when it comes to committed action.

Here’s how we might go from A to E without C:

Therapist:Sotherearedifficultfeelingsherethatyou’restrugglingwith…andthere’salsoawholeworldaroundyou…soI’mwonderingif,aswellasthosedifficultfeelings,canyounoticewhat you can see as you look around … and notice what you can hear … and notice what you’re touching with your hands … and notice you and me here … right now … communicating with eachother…workingtogether,asateam…evenwithallthesedifficultfeelingspresent…

Can We Just Do C and E, and Drop the A?Theproblemis,ifwedothis–ifwedon’trepeatedlyacknowledgethedifficultinnerexperiencesthat are present - then this exercise will no longer function as mindful grounding. Instead, it willfunctionasdistraction–whichistheveryoppositeofmindfulness.Distractioncomesfromthe Latin word ‘distrahere’, which means to drag away or draw apart. So distraction means turningawayfromdifficultinnerexperiences.Mindfulnessinvolvesturningtowardsdifficultinnerexperiences, with awareness and openness; thus the repeated instructions to ‘Acknowledge’ thoughts and feelings when dropping anchor. So we could start with a focus mainly on the C and the E, but we quickly need to follow this with a bit of A, or it becomes a distraction technique. In other words, we go C=>E=>A instead of A=>C=>E, in each cycle. We can also “titrate” how much attention goes to difficult inner experiences; for example, we may ask the client to keep just 10% of attention on their inner world and 90% on their outer world. Later, we may experiment with 20/80, 30/70, and so on.


Then the C focuses on moving or using parts of the body that either don’t hurt, or don’t increase pain when used/moved. For example, C may be:Can you adjust your position in the chair, so it’s a bit more comfortable. Can you use your eyes right now, to look around?Can you use your ears, to hear what I’m saying? Can you use your mouth, to speak to me?Canyoueversogentlyandslowlywiggleyourfingers?Can you ever so gently and slowly wiggle your toes?Can you ever so gently, alter your breathing … see if you can exhale more slowly, keep the outbreath going a bit longer … pause a second before the next breath in …So notice, even with these feelings present, you can use your body to do a whole range of things. And let’s now use your body to engage with the world around you ….”

Obviously,theabovesuggestionsaremodifiedtosuittheclient.Forexample,ifwigglingfingersis extremely painful, then you wouldn’t do it.

What If The Client Has Pain From A Physical Injury Or Illness?


Then the C may be:Can you use your eyes right now, to look around? Can you use your ears, to hear what I’m saying?Can you use your mouth, to speak to me?Can you move your tongue inside your mouth, press it up against the roof? Can you use the muscles of your forehead to raise your eyebrows?Can you use the muscles of your ribcage to breathe in and out?So notice, even with these feelings present, you can use your body to do things. And let’s now use your body to engage with the world around you ….

InthiscasetheCfocusesonpartsofthebodythatare‘islandsofsafety’–partsofthebodywhere you’re unlikely to encounter those avoided feelings and emotions. The most likely parts of thebodyforencounteringdifficultfeelingsandemotionsarethethroat,chest,tummyandpelvis.Hands,fingers,feet,toes,knees,elbows,shouldersare–formostpeople–likelytobe‘safe’parts of the body to move and/or focus on. Overtime,wecanhelptheclienttoconnectwithother‘scarier’partsofthebody–aformofgraded exposure.

What If The Client Can’t Move Their Arms And Legs Due To A Serious Illness Or Injury?

What If The Client Doesn’t Want To Connect With Their Body Because Of Difficult Feelings/Sensations/Emotions That They Want To Avoid?


Then the C can focus on the interface between your body and the physical world around you. For example:Can you notice the position in which you are sitting …Can you notice your buttocks resting on the seat beneath you …Can you notice your back against the chair … Can you notice where your arms are ….Can you notice where your hands are and what they are touching … Can you notice where your feet are …Can you notice your chest, rising and falling, as you breathe in and out…

Sonotice,evenwiththesedifficultthoughtsandfeelingspresent,yourbodyissupportingyou… holding you upright in the chair, helping you to breath, enabling you to physically contact the world around you … And see if you can use your body a little right now .. to lean slightly back into the chair or lean slightly forward away from the chair, whichever you prefer …and to slightly lower your hands and let them rest more heavily on your knees/lap … and to ever so gently and slowly nod your head to show me you’re with me …

What If The Client Is Reluctant To Move Their Arms And Legs For Other Reasons? Or Is Somewhat ‘Stiff’ And ‘Frozen’ Due To Hypoarousal Or Dissociation?


Then we acknowledge that at this point in therapy, that’s where the client is, and we make a safe, compassionate, non-judgmental “holding space” in which we allow the client to do whatever theynormallydoinreactiontothis–whichwillmostoftenbesomemethodofdistraction.Andwe help them to notice what they are doing and give a name to it (e.g. “So notice how you are distracting yourself/ notice how you have pushed this feeling down again/ notice how you are numbing yourself/ notice how you are checking out of the room”).We then explore what the client did, and we validate it! We acknowledge that at times it’s really useful to be able to do that. And then we respectfully, gently, compassionately come back to thecostsofOVER-RELYINGonsuchmethods-andthebenefitsoflearninganewanddifferentway of way of responding. (If the client is content to keep responding in such a manner, and doesn’twanttolearnnewwaysofresponding,youwillneedtothenclarifytherapygoals–seechapter six - and make sure you both have the same aim. Often, you’ll need to revisit “creative hopelessness”.)Over time, the aim is to develop the capacity to be able to open up and make room for those difficultinnerexperiences–withoutfightingthem,fleeingthem,orgettingjerkedaroundbythem.Right now, though, we acknowledge that it’s too great a challenge for this particular client to do that particular exercise with this particular thought/feeling/memory/sensation. However, that doesn’t mean we give up on dropping anchor! What we do is help the client learn how to drop anchor with some less challenging inner experiences.In other words, we use one of the main principles of graded exposure: we break the challenge down. We take baby steps; we go gently. We start with less-challenging inner experiences, and we gradually up the ante. As Aesop said, “Little by little does the trick”. We practice dropping anchorwithless-challengingprivateexperiencesfirst,andwebuildupthosemindfulnessmusclesovertime,helpingtheclienttodropanchorwithevermoredifficultthoughts,emotions,sensations and memories.

What If The Client Is Just So Overwhelmed By Their Current Inner Experience, They Are Unable/Unwilling To Drop Anchor? They Just Want To/Need To Escape From It?


What If The Client In The Previous Scenario Goes Into An Extreme Dissociative State?

We won’t let the client do that. We will carefully track the client’s reaction, and if necessary, we will reduce the emphasis on A (Acknowledging the painful thoughts/feelings/memories that are present) and we will ramp up the focus on the C and the E, in order to keep the client present in theroom:movingtheirbodyandusingtheirfivesensestoengage.

Q: Is there a risk this will then function as distraction?

A: Yes, for sure. If there is little or no A (acknowledging the pain that’s present), this type of practicewillalmostcertainlynolongerfunctionasmindfulgrounding/droppinganchor/flexibleattention; instead it’s likely to function as a distraction technique.

Q: Is distraction okay in ACT?

DistractionisnotapartoftheACTmodel–butifthat’swhatisneededforthisclientatthistimefor coping with this particular overwhelming experience in this session, then yes, that’s okay. It is a purely temporary measure. The idea is that, as soon as possible - ideally in the same session - wehelptheclienttolearnanewanddifferentmethodofresponding,that’sradicallydifferent to distraction. Again, think of it in terms of graded exposure: build up your ACE skills with less challenging emotional states and exercises of shorter duration; then over time, progress to more

challenging emotional states and longer exercises.


Q:Hangon!Justdouble-checking!DidyoujustsaythatdistractionisokayinACT?

Yes, it’s not a part of the ACT model, but at times, distraction is workable. Just to be clear:distraction is not mindfulness;distractionisnotaprocessofpsychologicalflexibility;distraction is not mindful grounding/dropping anchor;distractionisnotflexibleattention/flexiblecontactwiththepresentmoment;anddistraction IS a form of experiential avoidance.And yes, at times, distraction is workable.EveryACTtherapist,author,trainer,researcherIknow–includingmyself-usesdistractionattimes as a personal coping strategy.And every ACT textbook and self-help book that I have ever read, acknowledges that experiential avoidance isn’t always problematic, and can be workable at times.So on those rare occasions when it’s absolutely necessary, it’s okay to drop the A of ACE, and justusetheCandtheE.Ofcourse,thiswillchangethefunctionoftheexercise–turnitintoadistractiontechnique,ratherthanmindfulgrounding.And then, as soon as possible – and ideally in the same session – we will reintroduce the A: we help clients to be aware of and to allow their emotions/sensations/thoughts/memories, while also taking control of their physical actions and engaging in the world.


Using Dropping Anchor To Develop Other ACT Skills

You can easily incorporate or emphasise other ACT processes into the ACE exercises. The ‘Acknowledge’ part of ACE is the first step in both defusion and acceptance; so you can easily extend this section of the exercise, and segue into deeper work with either or both of those core processes. The ‘Connect’ part of ACE is committed action, and you can easily segue from here into exploring actions you can take, aligned with your values. The ‘Engage’ part of ACE is all about training up flexible contact with the present moment, and you can easily segue from here into further work on narrowing, broadening, shifting or sustaining attention

Want To Know More?

To learn more about dropping anchor, and how to use it with a wide range of issues, you may wanttocheckoutmytextbook,ACTMadeSimple,2ndedition.Youcanalsoseeitbeingusedintherapy sessions in my online courses at www.ImLearningACT.com

Good luck with it,All the best,Russ Harris

%20www.ImLearningACT.com

being flexible with dropping anchor

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