ACT in Practice on Social Media

Part of being an Acceptance and Commitment (ACT) counselor - or any type of counselor, is practicing what we preach, so to speak. I aim to be a person of my word, and also a person of my action. ACT by design has us connecting with our values, making room for discomfort, accepting the limitations and pain that can come up in a given context, and determining how to commit to what is important for us.

In a bit of a meta-moment for the ACT therapist, I am going to invite you into something a little personal for me: Instagram is something that is very new to me, proposed as a way for me to introduce myself as a counselor and connect with clinicians and clients in my community. It initially really intimidated me. Social media and I haven’t been the best of friends, having not been on Facebook for some 13 years at this point. Yes, I will admit, I had to make room for fear, judgment, and discomfort in getting to know myself on Social Media again.

I had memories of times when I was a teenager, furiously clicking refresh to see if that one person had acknowledged this public post, because it really was for them instead of everyone. I remembered times when I felt inadequate looking upon others’ pages and profiles. I noticed how much I wanted what they had, or saw what they had as something I didn’t.

These are things I did not miss about myself in the context of social media. Thus, as the process of expansion reminds us, I worked on making room for these fears, judgments, and got to know them with compassion and curiosity, and really got to see them in context.

I was no longer that scared 18 year-old who was navigating social media. Sure, they were part of me, yet I had more tools now than I did before.

Acknowledging that which scared me and connecting with that which empowered me freed me up psychically to engage with my Instagram account in a more meaningful way.

At the start, I got overwhelmed trying to learn how to Instagram and needed a break. I used my time away to connect with my values, do some more research, knowing that avoidance would likely not serve me here forever. If anxiety loves uncertainty and, as I often remind clients, “eats uncertainty for breakfast, lunch, and dinner”, I wondered if there was some certainty I could ground myself in here to remember my elements of control.

So I asked myself:

WHAT DO I KNOW ABOUT ME HERE-AND-NOW ?

I know I stand proudly as an ACT-informed therapist. I know that as a nonbinary person, I really want to support LGBTQIA+ individuals, and any client I engage with for that matter. I aim to provide them a space that feels safe and affirming to get to know themselves better and with increased curiosity.

I re-engaged with my Instagram with a refreshed sense of self, some humility, a beginner’s mind, and some more knowledge about how to use the platform itself, having consulted with some social media-savvy friends and colleagues along the way.

I started using “#ACTtherapy” at the end of my posts. (*Again, since I am so new to this IG world, I will add to my confessions that hashtagging was not something I understood, am still getting to know, and my mind still often refers to the “#” as the “Pound Sign”, for example.)

Some two weeks after this small value-connected change, pivoting to just adding #ACTtherapy at the end of my Monday Mindfulness Posts for example, I got a message from another member in the Baltimore community, who wanted to talk more about ACT.

His name is Falkner Discher and he, among other qualities, is a very gifted and skilled dancer who has studied choreography and classical dance styles like ballet. He is currently working on obtaining his Master’s of Social Work, informed by his experiences as a dancer and working in the competitive arts community. We connected and talked more. He asked me fantastic questions about what informs my practice as an ACT practitioner, how ACT shows up for me in my own personal and daily life, and how I utilize ACT in my creative endeavors. He shows a thirst for the work of ACT and wanted to engage with the processes of ACT for himself, so as to better inform his future clinical work. Hearing all this great awareness, insight and action he was engaging in; it really was an inspirational talk for me!

If I hadn’t been practicing ACT for myself, I might not have been mindful of the Instagram judgment that part of me was having, perhaps out of fear of being a social media imposter or coming off as “not the expert”.

If I hadn’t been practicing ACT for myself, I wouldn’t have been able to reconnect with Instagram after taking a break. I would just say: “Social media and I aren’t good friends, and never will be,” and be done with it. That’s not valued action for me. That avoidance could grow into something I might later resent. For someone who values openness, humility, creativity, challenge, change, risk, among other values, I learned that this was a workable challenge if I simply viewed it with a lens of engagement, connected with my intentions, and dare I say, have fun creating content.

While not entirely enamored, my Instagram and I are getting there. At this point, I can at least safely own that we are no longer enemies. Being able to connect with a community of therapists was my original reframe for logging in, and it has helped substantially. Sure, Instagram can be a marketing tool but for me, that wasn’t fueling. IG as a networking tool, a way to see ACT in practice around the world; now That puts fire in my belly!

When I am able to hear other clinicians doing engaging work for their clients, I am reminded of how many terrific colleagues I have in this field, and for that I am grateful. To my amazement, #ACTtherapy didn’t just invite me to connect with other ACT therapists. My intention has expanded. #ACTtherapy is a way for me to connect with anyone who has a curiosity for this modality of therapy, and for anyone who sees that ACT isn’t just what I do when I am on the clock as a counselor. ACT is a way of life and informs how I am in all settings at all times.

The ACA Counselor Code of Ethics reminds us that as counselors, we are always representing this discipline, whether we are in or out of session. That notion used to intimidate me. Maybe because I can still deeply connect with that 18 year-old who decided to log off of social media, “never to return”. Now, however, that notion empowers me to continue to practice ACT for myself and my loved ones, and to show up for myself and for my clients with love.