Commitment to a purpose in life: An antidote to the suffering by individuals with social anxiety disorder.

Abstract

Recent acceptance and mindfulness based cognitive-behavioral interventions explicitly target the clarification and commitment to a purpose in life. Yet, scant empirical evidence exists on the value of purpose as a mechanism relevant to psychopathology or well-being. The present research explored daily (within-person) fluctuations in purposeful pursuits and well-being in adults with and without the generalized subtype of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD); a community sample of 84 (41 with generalized SAD). After completing an idiographic measure of purpose in life, participants monitored their effort and progress toward this purpose along with their well-being each day. . Across two weeks of daily reports, we found that healthy controls reported increased self-esteem, meaning in life, positive emotions, and decreased negative emotions. People with SAD experienced substantial boosts in well-being indicators on days characterized by significant effort or progress toward their life purpose. We found no evidence for the reverse direction (with well-being boosting the amount of effort or progress that people with SAD devote to their purpose) and effects could not be attributed to comorbid mood or anxiety disorders. Results provide evidence for how commitment to a purpose in life enriches the daily existence of people with SAD. The current study supports principles that underlie what many clinicians are already doing with clients for SAD.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for the Management of Suicidal Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Participants in the ACT but not the relaxation group reported improvements in effective decision-making in daily life. Finally, ACT seeks to promote personal engagement in value-oriented actions, and increase one’s sense of leading a meaningful life [4, 43]. Values may prove important to help anchor patients to life and increase their intrinsic motivation to engage in meaningful actions [44].…”

Do counselor techniques predict quitting during smoking cessation treatment? A component analysis of telephone-delivered Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

“…Second, although not part of our initial hypothesis, a possible interpretation is that activation techniques are more likely to succeed when awareness and openness skills have already been established, since those skills could be helping individuals to cope effectively with the discomfort of being put in contact with their own personal values and the discrepancy between their values and actions; a process suggested by recent Relational Frame Theory research (Hooper, Stewart, Duffy, Freegard, & McHugh, 2012). Finally, while there is an increasing number of ACT studies examining the important role of activation in individual’s functioning (e.g., Chase et al, 2013; Kashdan & McKnight, 2013), there is still a small number addressing the role of values and commitment as compared to other ACT processes (Levin, Hildebrandt, Lillis, & Hayes, 2012). Thus, these non-significant findings should motivate further study of activation — a central process of the ACT model.…”

Therapists’ perspectives about working with meaning in life in psychotherapy: A survey

“…Frankl, 1959Frankl, , 1986Hayes, Stosahl, & Wilson, 1999;Hobbs, 1962;Kashdan & McKnight, 2013;Maddi, 1967;Wilson & Murrell, 2004;Wolman, 1975;Wong, 2010Wong, , 2012Yalom, 1980) have written about how work to with MIL in psychotherapy, but there is minimal empirical research about how therapists conduct such work. The overall purpose of this study was thus to survey therapists about working with MIL in psychotherapy.…”