Frame by Frame
*This blog post is based on material in the book Understanding and Applying RFT by Siri Ming, Evelyn Gould, & Julia Fiebig.
The expert in anything was once a beginner.
—Helen Hayes
As behavior analysts, teachers, therapists, or any other helping professional, we spend our days listening and speaking to others, whether we are attempting to understand a particular problem, giving advice or providing instructions, writing treatment plans or lessons, teaching and training, and so on. That is, we engage in “language.” It seems obvious that “language” is critical to an understanding of human behavior—and yet at the same time, it is so embedded in our lives that we rarely examine it.
The Wonder of Words
In this very moment, you are reading the words in this blog —a configuration of marks that have “meaning”—marks that function as “symbols.” And as you are reading, you are likely observing yourself and your reactions, perhaps thinking about why you’re reading this blog or what else you need to do today—all those responses also involve these strange symbols we call “words.”
There was a time in your life when words on a page were literally just marks to look at, and sounds “meant” nothing more than the presence of a caregiver. You were a beginner in the sea of language. How strange it is that various configurations of stimuli that are nothing more than marks on a page or sounds that we hear come to elicit emotions and evoke thoughts and actions that have nothing to do with their physical nature!
This is what RFT is all about - the wonder and beauty of words! RFT is fundamental to understanding how and why language develops. It also helps us understand the problems that arise when language enters into the picture, dominating human behavior and creating our social world. ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), therefore, can be viewed as the application of RFT to promoting psychological flexibility, within cooperative contexts for change, based on a functional analysis. Psychological flexibility allows individuals to interact with or “language about” their experiences in context-sensitive ways that promotes resilience even in challenging situations.
With this lens, the ultimate purpose of any functional analysis can be viewed as promoting psychological flexibility, cooperation, prosociality, the sustainable use of resources, diversity, equity, and inclusion, at all levels of interaction.
Contextual Functional Analysis
Functional analysis and case conceptualization are not linear processes, but complex, iterative ones. A comprehensive functional analysis must not only examine the influence of the immediate environment on an individual but also consider one’s self as part of the context, scale out to incorporate the interlocking contingencies between and among members of a group, and scale up to consider how individual-, group-, and systems-level variables interrelate and are themselves influenced by (and, in turn, influence) the interaction of organizing agencies and culture.
The point is that all functional analyses must include a process of zooming in to the level of discrete individual behaviors as well as zooming out to view the complex environment that influences individuals, groups, and systems. We invite you to explore your own levels of context—practicing zooming in and out—via our ‘Circles of Context’ exercise, which you can find here.
Self-Reflection
Whether you are a beginner or expert in RFT and ACT, we invite you to consider the values and experiences that have shaped your path up to this moment. How does language influence your daily interactions and the broader context of your work (in both expansive or restrictive ways)? How might you use this understanding to create positive change in your work and community?
