Toward & Away Out The Window

A new horizontal line for the ACT Matrix

A new horizontal line on the scene

Last week, Kevin Polk and his crew made a significant change to the ACT matrix horizontal line. They decided to do away with the Toward & Away language for the primary reason that it was too entangled with “Toward Values” and “Away from Values”.

I’ve written about this for many years and have advocated for a change. Of course Kevin & co.’s new terminology isn’t my preferred term, but I am pleased that they have rethought the horizontal axis.

The new horizontal axis that they are using is Relief & Satisfaction.

You can think of actions that show up on the top left quadrant as “Relief Moves”. They are moves primarily motivated by relief from some inner experience.

“Satisfaction Moves” are moves that are primarily motivated by a deeper sense of fulfilment.

This change is to really help people understand that there is no side of the quadrant that we “want to be on”, or “move toward”. We are not trying to help clients make more Satisfaction Moves than Relief Moves. We are trying to help them make moves that are workable, and to notice their behavior. Period.

Now of course, I would have preferred my own language of Survival & Vital which I have been using for a few years now.

Ultimately, I am all for any move that makes the matrix more accessible, and effective. And a change of the horizontal axis is in my experience more effective for clients when we take out the confusion related to moving toward or away values.

What does this mean for you?

Nothing, unless you want it to.

Neither Kevin, nor me, nor Benji, own the matrix nor can we tell you how to use it. If you feel comfortable with Toward & Away please continue to use it. If you like the new Satisfaction & Relief, go ahead and try it out.

Even I continue to start off with Toward & Away with clients, and then move to Survival & Vital after a few sessions. I’m curious to hear what you think about this change, you can leave a comment on this post or send an email directly to me by replying to this email.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jacob Martinez // Through The ACT Matrix