How increasing awareness increases your behavioral repertoire
A fly's eye view
At its core, the ACT matrix is all about noticing more of what’s going on around you, including your own behavior. It took me years of working with the matrix to fully understand this. See I have always been caught up in the four quadrants of the matrix rather than the two discrimination tasks that the lines represent.
When you hear Kevin Polk and other matrix experts talk about the tool, they always emphasize the importance of the center circle being a place of “Me Noticing”. The name of the tool itself is a reference to this idea of waking up and seeing what’s actually happening.
I’ve shared this before but I see the matrix as a tool to help us shift from a state of Not Noticing to a state of Noticing, and then from Noticing to “Just Noticing” (i.e. without judgment), and finally from “Just Noticing” to Noticing With Intention and Purpose.
The matrix itself is not about behavior change per se (other than increasing noticing), and starts to feel flat if it is used in a “Should I do a toward move here or an away move?” kind of way. When used as an observational tool to increase noticing of our experience the matrix really shines. When we increase awareness of our experience we also gain the ability to choose our actions more effectively in the moment. But how?
From the article:
You've probably pondered it after chasing a fly around your house and flailing your shoe with repeated, unsuccessful swats. How does it move so fast? Can it read my mind?
Well it turns out the answer to why flies are so good at avoiding our rolled up newspapers is that they can see “faster” than we can.
Human eyes perceive motion at about 60 frames per second or fewer.
Fly eyes can perceive motion at over 200 frames per second.
What that means is that when we go after a fly, they are seeing us move in what amounts to slow motion. The speed at which they can process information helps them buzz through the world making split second decisions. Necessary when flying, or avoiding predators.
Put simply, the more we can see the more time we have to choose what to do.
The ACT Matrix is like establishing another set of eyes that can help us see what’s going on and assess the function. Through consistent use of the matrix we integrate this way of viewing the world out into our daily lives, helping promote long lasting change.
This is also why I love teaching the matrix to other clinicians to help with case consultation. It’s like having another therapist with you in the room sorting out and guiding your interventions.
This focus on noticing lifts a weight off of the shoulders of us as clinicians. We don’t necessarily have to wonder “What behavior do I need to shape here? How can I help my client do more of X and less of Y?” Instead we simply keep training the noticing. When a person gets good at noticing the distinction between moving toward what matters and away from uncomfortable inner experience, their values begin to govern their behavior more and more.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jacob Martinez // Through The ACT Matrix