ABSTRACT
Perceiving and understanding ourselves is an incredibly complex relational process that may underly so much of complex human behavior that we attempt to influence through ACT-based intervention. Self-as-content is the process of interacting with relations about oneself as literal and conceptualizing oneself in terms of various social labels. Conceptualized labels can exert stimulus control that diminishes contact with values that might otherwise be available without such conceptualization. Self-as-context describes the process of viewing the self flexibly and contextually through deictic and hierarchical framing. When the self is viewed in context, defining the self can be variable and allow for adaptations in responding to contact values more fully. In the chapter, we review the role of relational dynamics in the perspective of self and intervention strategies that incorporate self-as-context. We also discuss strategies for measuring self-as-context as well as self-compassion as dependent variables, the role of self-as-context within self-compassion training, and conceptually advanced topics like spirituality and transcendence that can operate within the context of behavioral intervention. We conclude by describing antecedent and consequence strategies to promote self-as-context and how self-as-context relates to the other ACT processes.
