How the ACT Matrix Promotes Hierarchical Relating

RFT & The Matrix

On the ACBS RFT Listserv, there is a wonderful conversation that has been happening over the last week regarding spatial framing and hierarchical framing. It’s definitely worth a read in its entirety (Note: you must be a member of ACBS and subscribed to the RFT Listserv to view that thread. I highly recommend that you do subscribe as the conversations are always great).

While understanding the intricacies of different types of relational “frames” is not super important for your clinical work, it can be fun to analyze the types of relational framing that our interventions are targeting.

I’ve said before that I view the ACT Matrix as a “spatial relational tool” meaning that it helps us derive spatial reference points for our experience, which in turn helps us sort our experience in a different, more flexible way. In addition to this spatial relating, the matrix promotes relating to our experience in a variety of different ways.

Coordination & Distinction Framing

Coordination and distinction framing are two very basic types of relating that involve essentially every behavior we engage in. They both come first from the world of non-arbitrary relating, in other words relating via form. We can distinguish between colors, for example, and coordinate based on shape, closeness, etc.

Put simply, coordination is the idea of relating two things as “together” in some capacity. Lightning and the following thunder clap are coordinated, one without the other would be odd.

Distinction refers to the idea of relating things as “different”. Lightning and the following thunder clap are distinct from one another. If you were to draw a bolt of lightning on a piece of paper you might be easily able to do that. And if you wanted to draw thunder? You’d have to get creative.

The ACT Matrix puts certain concepts in coordination with each other and certain concepts in distinction with one another.

In this image the blue line with dots indicates coordination and the red line with triangles indicates distinction.

Very broadly, when we first set up the matrix these concepts are laid out in relation in this manner, and then as things progress in the work with a client we start to derive new relationships between their experience.

Spatial Framing

Spatial framing refers to relating concepts as being “there” and “here” with “there” and “here” being distinct. We do this when we ask clients to bring an experience “out into the room”, or when clients view their thoughts and feelings as occurring deep inside themselves.

The geometry of the matrix allows for a new and different way of sorting out our experience. Instead of being inside me or outside of me, we can identify our experience and simply place it on the matrix in whatever quadrant it fits best in. As we become more and more familiar with the matrix, we start to do this mentally, or at least I do. I’ve used the matrix so many times that when I am stressed and feeling frustrated after a long day of work I literally “see” a blinking red light coming from the lower left hand side of my vision, as if I am wearing a Heads Up Display saying “Hey watch out, something down here needs your attention.”

When I see this blinking red light it increases the likelihood that I will stop and attend to my experience in a workable way (my behavioral repertoire becomes more flexible).

Hierarchical Framing

Hierarchical framing refers to relating concepts as being part of or contained by others. For a person we can conceptualize this as everything relating to a central point, which we refer to as the Deictic-I, or the Self. This Deictic-I is a stable reference point, like the center of a vast web with all things tracing back ultimately to it.

Most of the time when we think of hierarchical framing we visualize a tree diagram like this where the Deictic-I would be at the very top:

While this view is helpful it can often lead to ideas of superiority, with things further up at the top being more important than the things below. In hierarchical relationships this stratification of importance is not always a feature.

We can also visualize hierarchical relationships as containers, like a a set of Matryoshka dolls.

From this perspective it’s a little bit harder to assign importance or value to any one of the figures.

The act of completing an ACT Matrix sets up a top-down view of our experiencing with us physically in the room looking down at a sheet of paper and writing things into the diagram, but the diagram itself represents hierarchical containment by virtue of the center circle as the Self.

My metaphor of imagining the center circle as a kind of observation tower from which we can be aware of everything happening below forces a shift into a more flexible view of our experience.

When we shift into this perspective we can be naturally more compassionate of our own experience, and better able to take action in ways that truly matter to us.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jacob Martinez // Through the ACT Matrix

---

In about 2 days (August 1st) the ACT Matrix Course opens for all. You can pre-register now, or purchase access to the course any time after August 1st.