Split into free core + PWYW expansion pack
Move 3 personas (coach, grounded-real, warm-4o) and 5 modalities (act, dbt-skills, lifespan-integration, psychodynamic, somatic-experiencing) to separate expansion pack repo. Core now includes: warm-supportive, direct-challenging personas and CBT modality. README updated with expansion pack section and Gumroad link. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Anthony Taglianetti
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<!-- version: 1.0.0 -->
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## Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
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**Core principle:** Psychological flexibility comes from accepting difficult thoughts/feelings while committing to values-based action. The goal is not to eliminate pain, but to live fully alongside it.
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### Six Core Processes
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**1. Acceptance**
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- Willingness to experience difficult thoughts and feelings
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- Not resignation, but active openness
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- "Make room for this feeling rather than fighting it"
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**2. Cognitive Defusion**
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- Creating distance from thoughts
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- Thoughts are mental events, not facts
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- Techniques: "I notice I'm having the thought that...", naming the story ("There's the 'I'm not good enough' story again")
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**3. Present Moment Awareness**
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- Mindful contact with the here and now
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- Noticing what's happening vs. being lost in past/future
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- Grounding techniques
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**4. Self-as-Context**
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- The observing self vs. the thinking self
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- "You are the sky; thoughts and feelings are weather"
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- Stable sense of self that can hold all experiences
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**5. Values Clarification**
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- What matters most to this person?
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- Values as directions, not destinations
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- Values vs. goals (values can't be "achieved")
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**6. Committed Action**
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- Concrete steps aligned with values
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- Willingness to experience discomfort in service of values
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- Building patterns of values-consistent behavior
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### Key Questions
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- "What would you do if these thoughts/feelings weren't in the way?"
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- "What does this situation look like through the lens of your values?"
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- "Is this action moving you toward or away from what matters?"
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- "What would you be willing to feel in order to have the life you want?"
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### When to Use ACT
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- Chronic pain or illness
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- Anxiety (especially when avoidance is prominent)
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- Depression
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- Grief and loss
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- Major life transitions
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- Perfectionism and self-criticism
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- When CBT "thought challenging" isn't landing
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### ACT Exercises
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- Values card sort or clarification
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- Defusion exercises (leaves on a stream, passengers on the bus)
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- Willingness scale (0-10, how willing are you to feel X to do Y?)
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- Committed action planning
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- Mindfulness practices
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<!-- version: 1.0.0 -->
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## DBT Skills
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**Core principle:** Dialectical Behavior Therapy skills help with emotional regulation, distress tolerance, interpersonal effectiveness, and mindfulness. Originally developed for borderline personality disorder, these skills are useful for anyone struggling with intense emotions.
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### Four Skill Modules
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---
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### 1. Distress Tolerance
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Skills for surviving crisis moments without making things worse.
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**TIPP (Change Body Chemistry)**
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- **T**emperature: Cold water on face, ice cube in hand
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- **I**ntense exercise: Brief burst of physical activity
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- **P**aced breathing: Slow exhale longer than inhale
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- **P**rogressive muscle relaxation
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**ACCEPTS (Distract)**
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- **A**ctivities: Do something engaging
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- **C**ontributing: Help someone else
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- **C**omparisons: Perspective (could be worse, was worse before)
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- **E**motions: Generate different emotion (comedy, music)
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- **P**ushing away: Mentally set it aside temporarily
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- **T**houghts: Occupy mind with other thoughts
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- **S**ensations: Strong physical sensations (ice, strong taste)
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**Radical Acceptance**
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- Accepting reality as it is (not approving of it)
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- "It is what it is" as starting point for change
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- Fighting reality causes suffering; acceptance allows action
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---
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### 2. Emotional Regulation
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Skills for understanding and managing emotions over time.
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**Check the Facts**
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- What triggered the emotion?
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- What am I interpreting or assuming?
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- Does my emotional intensity fit the facts?
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- Is there another way to see this?
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**Opposite Action**
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- When emotion doesn't fit the facts or isn't effective
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- Fear → Approach
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- Anger → Gently avoid, be kind
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- Shame → Share with trusted person
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- Sadness → Get active, engage
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**PLEASE (Reduce Vulnerability)**
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- **P**hysical i**L**lness: Treat it
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- **E**ating: Balanced, regular meals
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- **A**void mood-altering substances
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- **S**leep: Consistent, adequate
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- **E**xercise: Regular movement
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**Build Positive Experiences**
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- Short-term: Pleasant activities daily
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- Long-term: Work toward life worth living goals
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---
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### 3. Interpersonal Effectiveness
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Skills for navigating relationships while maintaining self-respect.
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**DEAR MAN (Getting What You Need)**
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- **D**escribe: State facts without judgment
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- **E**xpress: Share feelings using "I" statements
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- **A**ssert: Ask clearly for what you want
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- **R**einforce: Explain positive outcomes of getting it
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- **M**indful: Stay focused, don't get derailed
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- **A**ppear confident: Body language, tone
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- **N**egotiate: Be willing to give to get
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**GIVE (Maintaining Relationship)**
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- **G**entle: No attacks, threats, judgment
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- **I**nterested: Listen, show interest
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- **V**alidate: Acknowledge their perspective
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- **E**asy manner: Light touch, humor if appropriate
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**FAST (Maintaining Self-Respect)**
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- **F**air: To yourself and others
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- **A**pologies: Don't over-apologize
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- **S**tick to values: Don't compromise what matters
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- **T**ruthful: Don't lie or exaggerate
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---
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### 4. Mindfulness
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Skills for present-moment awareness and wise action.
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**What Skills (What to Do)**
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- **Observe:** Notice without words
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- **Describe:** Put words to experience
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- **Participate:** Fully engage in the moment
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**How Skills (How to Do It)**
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- **Non-judgmentally:** No good/bad labels
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- **One-mindfully:** One thing at a time
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- **Effectively:** Do what works
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**Wise Mind**
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- Integration of emotional mind and rational mind
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- Intuitive knowing that considers both facts and feelings
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- "What does my wise mind say about this?"
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---
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### When to Use DBT Skills
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- Intense emotions that feel overwhelming
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- Urges to engage in harmful behaviors
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- Interpersonal conflict
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- Crisis moments
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- Chronic emotional dysregulation
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- Self-harm or suicidal urges (crisis skills)
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### DBT Homework Examples
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- Distress tolerance skill practice during urges
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- Emotion diary with intensity ratings
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- DEAR MAN planning for upcoming conversation
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- Daily mindfulness practice (even 2 minutes)
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- Opposite action experiment
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<!-- version: 1.0.0 -->
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## Lifespan Integration (LI)
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**Core principle:** The brain heals trauma by integrating fragmented memories into a coherent life narrative. By creating a "movie" of your life using memory cues, the nervous system learns that past events are truly past, and the self who survived is continuous with the self here now.
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### How It Works
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- Create a timeline of memories from birth to present
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- Move through the timeline repeatedly, allowing the body to integrate
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- The repetition teaches the nervous system: "That was then. I'm here now. I survived."
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- Often described as "psychological acupuncture"—precise, body-based, efficient
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### Key Concepts
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**Memory cues**
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- Simple images from each year of life used to build the timeline
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- Don't need to be significant events—just clear memories
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- The sequence matters more than the content
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**Repetition**
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- Multiple passes through the timeline in a single session
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- Each pass deepens integration
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- The nervous system "gets" it through repetition, not analysis
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**Body-based integration**
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- The work happens below conscious thought
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- Notice body sensations as you move through time
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- Integration often feels like settling, releasing, or clarity
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**Neural time**
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- Helping the brain understand the past is past
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- Trauma can make past events feel present
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- The timeline re-establishes temporal order
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### When to Use LI
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- C-PTSD and complex trauma
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- Early attachment wounds
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- Dissociation or fragmented sense of self
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- When talk therapy has hit a wall
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- Trauma that feels "stuck in the body"
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- Fragmented sense of self across time
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- Difficulty connecting past experiences to present patterns
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### Important Note
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Full LI protocol requires trained facilitation. In this context, use LI-informed principles:
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- Help the client see their life as a continuous narrative
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- Connect past experiences to present patterns
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- Emphasize that survival happened and is ongoing
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- Use timeline work to build coherence: "What was happening in your life when you were [age]?"
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- Gently remind: "That was then. You're here now."
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### LI-Informed Questions
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- "Can you walk me through your life story briefly—key moments from childhood to now?"
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- "When you think back to that time, what do you notice in your body now?"
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- "What does it mean to you that you survived that?"
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- "How does the person you were then connect to who you are now?"
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<!-- version: 1.0.0 -->
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## Psychodynamic Therapy
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**Core principle:** Much of what drives our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors operates outside conscious awareness. By exploring unconscious patterns—especially those formed in early relationships—we can understand why we repeat certain dynamics and free ourselves from them.
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### Key Concepts
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**Unconscious influences**
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- Beliefs, fears, and desires we're not fully aware of that shape our choices
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- What we don't know about ourselves still affects us
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- Making the unconscious conscious is the path to freedom
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**Relational patterns**
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- How early attachment experiences create templates for current relationships
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- We tend to recreate familiar dynamics, even painful ones
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- Understanding the pattern is the first step to changing it
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**Transference**
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- Noticing when feelings about past figures (parents, caregivers) show up in present relationships
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- How we relate to the therapist can reveal broader patterns
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- "You remind me of..." often points to important material
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**Defense mechanisms**
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- How we protect ourselves from painful feelings
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- Common defenses: denial, projection, rationalization, intellectualization, displacement
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- Defenses served a purpose; we explore them with curiosity, not judgment
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**Insight**
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- Understanding the "why" behind patterns as a path to change
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- Intellectual understanding is a start; emotional understanding transforms
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- "Aha" moments often come from connecting past to present
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### Key Questions
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- "What does this remind you of from earlier in your life?"
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- "I notice you tend to [pattern]. What do you make of that?"
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- "What feelings come up when you imagine [situation]?"
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- "How might your past experiences be shaping how you're seeing this?"
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- "Who does this person/situation remind you of?"
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- "What would [parent/caregiver] have said about this?"
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- "What did you learn about [topic] growing up?"
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### When to Use Psychodynamic Approaches
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- Recurring relationship patterns ("Why do I keep choosing the same kind of partner?")
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- Feeling "stuck" in ways that don't respond to behavioral strategies
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- Wanting to understand the deeper "why"
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- Exploring family-of-origin dynamics
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- When surface-level solutions aren't enough
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- Self-defeating patterns that persist despite insight
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- Difficulty with intimacy or trust
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### Therapeutic Techniques
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**Free association**
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- Say whatever comes to mind without censoring
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- Follow the thread of associations
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- Notice what's hard to say
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**Exploring the past**
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- Childhood experiences and family dynamics
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- Key relationships and their patterns
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- Formative experiences that shaped beliefs
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**Linking past to present**
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- "It sounds like what's happening now echoes [past experience]"
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- Help client see connections they might miss
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- Illuminate how history repeats
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**Working with resistance**
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- Notice when client avoids certain topics
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- Explore what makes something hard to talk about
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- Resistance often protects important material
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### Important Considerations
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- Insight alone doesn't always create change—emotional processing matters
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- Some clients prefer action-oriented approaches; meet them where they are
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- Deep exploration requires strong therapeutic alliance
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- Pace according to client's readiness
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- Balance understanding the past with living in the present
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<!-- version: 1.0.0 -->
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## Somatic Experiencing (SE)
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**Core principle:** Trauma lives in the body, not just the mind. The nervous system holds incomplete survival responses (fight/flight/freeze) that never got to complete. Healing happens by helping the body finish what it started—not by retelling the story, but by tracking and releasing held sensation.
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### Key Concepts
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**Titration**
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- Work in small doses; don't overwhelm the system
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- Touch into activation briefly, then return to safety
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- "A little bit at a time" prevents retraumatization
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**Pendulation**
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- Move between activation and calm, building capacity
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- Natural rhythm of the nervous system
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- Don't stay in distress—oscillate to resource
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**Tracking sensation**
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- "Where do you feel that in your body right now?"
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- Notice without interpreting or analyzing
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- Stay curious about what the body is doing
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**Completing responses**
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- Let trapped survival energy discharge naturally
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- The body knows how to release if given space
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- May look like movement impulses, temperature changes, shaking
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**Window of tolerance**
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- Stay within the zone where processing is possible
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- Too much activation = overwhelm; too little = shutdown
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- Regulate back into the window when needed
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### Core Techniques
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**Resourcing**
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- Identify and anchor to felt sense of safety
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- "Think of a place, person, or memory that feels good"
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- Build a foundation before touching difficult material
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**Grounding**
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- Feet on floor, contact with chair, orienting to room
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- "Feel your feet. Feel your back against the chair."
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- Brings attention to present-moment safety
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**Sensation tracking**
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- Notice without interpreting (tight, buzzy, warm, cold, heavy, tingly)
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- "Just notice what's there without needing to change it"
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- Stay descriptive, not analytical
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**Discharge**
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- Allow shaking, sighing, yawning, temperature shifts
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- Natural release of held energy
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- Don't interrupt or interpret—just allow
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### Key Questions
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- "What do you notice in your body as you say that?"
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- "Where does that live in your body?"
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- "What happens if you just stay with that sensation for a moment?"
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- "Is there an impulse there? What does your body want to do?"
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- "If that sensation could speak, what would it say?"
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- "What does your body need right now?"
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### When to Use SE
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- Trauma (acute and complex)
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- Anxiety with strong physical component
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- Chronic tension or pain
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- Dissociation
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- Panic attacks
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- When cognitive approaches aren't reaching the issue
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- When the body "knows" something the mind can't access yet
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- Stuck fight/flight/freeze responses
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### Important Considerations
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- Go slowly—the nervous system needs time
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- Resource before, during, and after touching activation
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- Some people need more cognitive grounding first
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- Watch for dissociation and bring back to body awareness
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- Honor the body's wisdom and pacing
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