Carissa Gustafson

A lot of us still think of mental struggles as something to push through. Or we think we need to “cure” ourselves from anxiety and that will be that. But licensed clinical psychologist and author Dr. Carissa Gustafson says there are real steps you can take to “unhook” us from anxiety. The first step for many people is accepting that distressing feelings and thoughts are part of life, which is part of the basis for acceptance and commitment therapy - or ACT. In this episode, we speak to Gustafson about some tactical approaches to accepting the discomfort, and then taking action.

Psychologist Dr. Carissa Gustafson discusses using acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to manage anxiety. She emphasizes accepting what you can't control, using mindfulness to relate to thoughts and feelings, cognitive defusion to become unstuck from anxious thoughts, and linking behaviors to values for motivation. Dr. Gustafson also stresses embracing all experiences and shares practical techniques for self-awareness, acceptance, and value-aligned action when anxiety strikes.