What I’m Reading
This is the best one-volume summary of ACT, RFT, and CBS that I know of. That said, it can be a little on the intimidating side if this is your first ACT book, so I’d start elsewhere for a basic introduction to ideas—either with a workbook or something by Russ Harris. But once you’re ready to dig in, this is essential reading.
McHugh/Stewart’s first big book on selfing processes. This is an edited volume, so it doesn’t hang together quite as nicely as their newer “A Contextual Behavioral Guide to the Self,” but it’s still useful and contains some nice work. I especially appreciated Kelly Wilson’s chapter on the ways mindfulness can help develop healthy self processes.
Most would agree self-as-context is the most challenging of the core ACT processes. If you want a deep dive into the process, I don’t think there’s a better volume out there. This is essential reading for anyone wanting to understand selfing repertoires, the types of problems that can occur when we engage in selfing behavior, and the ways in which the language we use can influence “who we are.”
RFT can be a tough set of concepts, but it’s really helpful to have at least a basic understanding if you’re doing ACT work. This is a very good book which provides background on RFT research as well as some basic examples of clinical application. If you’re looking for a true introduction to RFT, though, I’d start with Torneke’s “ABCs of Human Behavior” (with Jonas Ramnero.)
A beast of a book. If you want to know everything about RFT I don’t know of a better source, but this is probably overkill for nearly all clinicians. It should at least be the last thing you read after Torneke and Villatte (I made the mistake of making this my introduction to RFT and it was very hard to get through.)
