Blog
A Collection of Posts from Brisbane ACT Centre's talented psychologists, psychiatrist, therapists and social workers.
How to improve mental health in 2020 – What’s the difference between a top down and a bottom up approach to wellbeing?
If you’re feeling stressed, anxious or depressed at the moment – you aren’t alone. It’s a difficult time for many of us, but fortunately there are practices we can integrate into our lives to enhance our sense of wellbeing. By learning to use bottom up and top down approaches, and to find the ones that work the best for you, you can maintain and perhaps even improve your mental health into the future.
Turning Shame into Sunsets: How ACT can Help you Commit to your OCD Treatment
By Richard BunkerObsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a highly debilitating psychological disorder which affects approximately 3% of the population. Yet despite its prevalence, many people with OCD will often delay seeking treatment because of shame, embarrassment...
FACE COVID
FACE COVID – how Acceptance and Commitment Therapy skills can help you to respond effectively to the Covid 19 crisis – with thanks to Dr Russ Harris for the text, and the worldwide ACT community for the wonderful animation and infographic! ‘FACE COVID’ is a set of...
ACT at the time of COVID-19
By Marcela Costanzo I woke up this morning with the unsettling feeling of finding a new and scary world out there, this is how much change has happened in so little time. It brought home to me what has been emphasized to us ACT practitioners at every training we have...
How to cultivate inner calm in a context of chaos – getting flexible and connecting with values!
By Ali FlintHi – I am Ali, a psychologist, human being, and lifelong explorer in science, humanity and spirituality. As part of my ongoing journey of personal growth I recently attended a 5 day Tibetan Buddhism retreat connecting psychology with spirituality. On the...
The Ostrich Effect
By Tunteeya YamaokaHave you ever found yourself putting off something important? Something that you knew you needed to do but found reasons to avoid. Maybe you avoided checking your email for fear of what was inside, maybe not checking a debt balance or a bill or...
Hiking in the Dark: Becoming an Awesome Parent
By Dr. Kimberley NashClose your eyes and imagine that you are about to take a hike into unchartered territory…..In the dark. While this sounds fear provoking enough, imagine you also have a heavy backpack on your back and a baby in tow. What!?..... No, this is not...
Largest Mindfulness Lesson – new World Record at UQ, Brisbane 23.07.19
By Tunteeya Yamaoka On Tuesday 23.07.19 at the University of Queensland 1417 people participated in the world’s largest ever mindfulness lesson, setting a new Guinness World Record! Renowned mindfulness expert Dr Russ Harris, author of “The Happiness Trap” and many...
The User’s Guide to Mindfulness, Meditation & Noticing
The User’s Guide to Mindfulness, Meditation & NoticingMindfulness, an intentional focusing practice, can have many benefits, amongst them easing up feelings around struggle with anxiety. The psychophysiological exercise practice of intentional focusing activates...
Feeling Shame in Parenting: Share Your Experience
“Are you sure she’s hungry again? Didn’t you just feed her?” “Don’t you think your baby is wearing too many clothes? Won’t he be too hot?” “You should put the baby down, otherwise she will never be independent”. “You know, if you don’t teach her to share/sleep/have...
If you are feeling depressed – ACT can help
By Peter Gillogley In this article you will find answers to some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about Depression based on some recent research. Questions address by this article include: How common is depression? What evidence-based treatments are there for...
Work Stress and Burnout – Finding a better Work-Life Balance
I enjoy my work as a psychologist, using ACT psychotherapy skills to help clients struggling with anxiety, depression, PTSD along with other common and often highly distressing psychological problems. Yet, some days at the workplace seem full of vitality and purpose,...
An Interview with Psychologist, Jane Baccinelli
Tell us about yourself: I’m a friendly sort of person, I like people and I like having fun. I have been interested in psychology, wellbeing, spirituality, animal welfare, making things, beautiful things and natural things for as long as I can remember. ...
Our Newest Psychologist, Gaby Hill!
Live Life More Freely and Fully: An Interview with our Newest Practitioner - Gaby Hill! A warm welcome to Gaby Hill, Clinical Psychologist, who will be joining the Brisbane ACT Centre team in July/August. Gaby welcomes appointments on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Q. Tell...
Welcoming 4 New Expert Psychologists to our Team
At the Brisbane ACT Centre we’re always seeking to offer you Brisbane’s warmest, most knowledgeable and skilled experts in clinical psychology. We’re proud of the community of therapists that we’ve built to support one another in doing their best work, and...
3 More of Our Favourite Self Help Psychology Books
Our last post on 3 of our favourite self help books focused on books that explored popular myths, how those myths can hold us back and where to go from there. This week we’re recommending three books about managing difficult thoughts and feelings. An...
My GP recommended yoga…Now what?!
ACT Aligned Yoga: Committed Action 6 Week Workshop Saturdays, 9:15am - 10-:30am, 25 August - 29 September 2018 At the Brisbane ACT Centre When we have been through something that causes us discomfort or pain, whether it’s a stressful work environment, or a...
Three of Our Favourite Science-Based Self-Help Books
The right book at the right time can completely change your life. A science based self-help book can be a fantastic aide to therapy with a skilled professional psychologist, and can help grow the skills learned in sessions of ACT therapy. Research shows...
Welcoming Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist Dr. David Ward
The Brisbane ACT Centre is proud to welcome Dr. David Ward to our team of expert therapists. David is a specialist in child and adolescent psychiatry with incredible experience in the field. David trained in the United Kingdom and was the clinical lead...
Fear of Heights – Taking the Leap
Having a fear of heights (or anything!) can be terrifying. Regardless of your particular fear or anxiety, we all have similar experiences to some extent. In my life it has been heights in particular. For example, if I were standing on a tall and narrow...
