ABSTRACT
Basic defusion, acceptance, and mindfulness skills are invariably useful to have in place, particularly when the client is tightly co-ordinated with their content. A first stage is to build a metaphor that helps the client to structure a way to view their internal experiences as distinct but also contained within a part of themselves that acts as an observer. The client begins to see the limits of the content, in its ability to exert control over behaviour. This comes from observing that content ebbs and flows or noticing the cost that comes from allowing content to determine behaviour. The final stage comes from the practitioner helping the client to identify choices that exist in addition to choices that are about content acting as a source of control over behaviour. The practitioner assists the client in discriminating between behaviour resulting from the presence of internal content versus behaviour that is determined on the basis of values.
