Crisis Integration with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Theory and Practice-View Presentation

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Video Summary

Dr. Katrina Karlsson, a Swedish psychiatrist, presents a comprehensive model for crisis integration, designed to help individuals grow through psychiatric crises by using their bodies as tools for sensing and processing emotions. Rooted in her research in cognitive neuroscience and functional imaging, Dr. Karlsson emphasizes the importance of developing meta-awareness, or mindfulness, during crises to facilitate emotional processing and integration.<br /><br />The presentation is based on a textbook co-authored with Kajsa Strössl, a founder of ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy), and Laura Roberts from Stanford. The book aims to be an accessible guide for psychiatrists, focusing on understanding and managing crises by expanding the standard of diagnosis and pharmacological treatment with psychological tools.<br /><br />Dr. Karlsson introduces the crisis integration model which outlines the process of alternation between acceptance of the internal world and strategic engagement with external actions. Mindfulness, especially of bodily sensations, is highlighted as a crucial practice for this integration. It involves an evolutionary perspective, emphasizing the brain's predictive coding, which guesses present experiences based on past learning. This theory elucidates why being present and mindful can facilitate emotional processing.<br /><br />The session includes an interactive exercise on interoceptive exposure, where participants practice sensing their bodily sensations to process underlying emotions. Dr. Karlsson also explores the role of acceptance in managing self-criticism and fostering self-compassion as tools for mitigating crisis-induced suffering. The presented model is adaptable for various psychiatric conditions and emphasizes the role of behavioral change through value-based engagement.

Keywords

crisis integration

psychiatric crises

mindfulness

cognitive neuroscience

functional imaging

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

meta-awareness

emotional processing

interoceptive exposure

self-compassion

behavioral change