From time to time I get readers who find my website who are not therapists but rather clients that are doing research about therapy.
The ACT Matrix is often intriguing to clients, but as of this writing there is no workbook or self-help book for the general public that focuses on the matrix (Maybe I’ll write one someday). So if a client wants to get a taste of ACT Matrix work they have very few options other than finding a therapist who uses it.
I received an email a few months back from a lay person asking how to use the ACT Matrix as a supplement to their current therapeutic work:
Message:
hi. I am a client (therapy.) How would you suggest I use this tool..if it can prove beneficial at all to not..a therapist. -I really respond to this work.
My response:
You can use this tool a couple of different ways depending on your circumstance. If you are currently in therapy now you might let your therapist know that you found this tool and are curious about it, and maybe your therapist could read up about it.
If you are intending to use this on your own, I would use the two different versions of the matrix that I've attached to this email.
Pick one of these matrices, or alternate between them. Set aside a time each day to complete a matrix by drawing your own on a sheet of paper. Then ask yourself the questions in each of the boxes, and write your answers down on your own blank matrix. Do that once a day for at least two weeks, and then notice what your answers have been. Once you've become very familiar with the matrix you might start noticing that you approach the rest of your life "through the lens" of the matrix diagram, and you'll catch yourself asking the questions of the matrix at different moments.
Start there, and see where that takes you.
Jacob
The two matrices I referenced in my response are my Values Focused Matrix and the “Giga Matrix” which you can find here.
Of course this is only one simple way a person in therapy could use the matrix on their own. I do plan on writing a self-guided workbook on the matrix for clients, though that is probably a few years away.
With the number of therapists I train I always think that I’ll do an intake with a client one day and they’ll say “Oh my last therapist did this!” So far every client I’ve done it with has never seen anything like it.
Sadly for now, the best way to supplement therapy with the ACT Matrix if you’re a client may be to point your current therapist to theACTmatrix.com and let them know that you’re interested in trying this approach out.
If you’re a therapist who wants to learn more about using the matrix send me an email and maybe we can do some consultation together.
Respectfully Submitted,
Jacob Martinez // Through the ACT Matrix