Values in Therapy

Jenna LeJeune and Jason Luoma have shared with us a book about living a meaningful life guided by values that comes from their hearts truly. This work matters to them, and you see and feel it in their writing. Values in Therapy is a clinician's guide designed to not only assist us in helping clients to imagine and engage their deepest purpose, it is also about imagining and engaging our own. The clinical examples are thoughtfully presented, and the self-directed 'inside out' work invites clinicians to be curious about their own values-based actions and the meaning they create. This is a must-read book for all therapists, not simply those interested in ACT. Learning what it means to be alive and creating--to live well and with vitality is the essence of this book. --Robyn D. Walser, PhD, licensed clinical psychologist, author of The Heart of ACT, and coauthor of The Mindful Couple and Learning ACT--Robyn D. Walser, PhD If you want to help your clients build richer, more meaningful lives, develop a sense of purpose and fulfillment, and find motivation and inspiration from deep within, then you need this book. The authors take you step by step through the use of values to enrich and enhance any type of therapy. Loaded with simple but powerful exercises and tools, and a wealth of case examples, this is a truly practical guide for helping your clients to harness the power of values and use it for profound transformation. --Russ Harris, author of The Happiness Trap and ACT Made Simple--Russ Harris Spend time with this book and it will change the way you interact not only with your clients, but also with yourself, your loved ones, and most likely all of your interactions. Filling life with meaning, connection, and curiosity is at the very heart of this well-written book. It is a great addition to your library no matter if you are early in your therapeutic career, or an experienced therapist. This book is a gold mine! --Tobias Lundgren, PhD, assistant professor and research group leader in the department of clinical neuroscience, and head of health care development at the Center for Psychiatry Research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden; and author and coauthor of numerous research articles and books, including The Art and Science of Valuing in Psychotherapy--Tobias Lundgren, PhD Values in Therapy is a wonderfully written testimony and practical guide on how values can help humans build lives of meaning and purpose, and in so doing, reduce their suffering. It is going to be an essential text in my clinic, and I have no doubt it will become essential to you, too. LeJeune and Luoma have enriched the book with clinical examples that show how values work has changed the lives of the people they have served, and their work comes alive on the page. You have in your hands a resource that will not be left on the shelf. Use it to help with the challenges of bringing values into therapy, to gently face the pain of not living as one hopes to, and to travel down the path of deep meaning that is a life with values at the center. This is a great book that will enrich your work and your life by helping you explore, build, and take action. I highly recommend it for anyone who cares to find the riches that lie in helping others. --Louise Hayes, PhD, clinical psychologist and senior fellow at the University of Melbourne and Orygen Centre for Excellence in Youth Mental Health; fellow at the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science; and coauthor of The Thriving Adolescent and Get Out of Your Mind and Into Your Life for Teens--Louise Hayes, PhD Clients seek treatment longing for a better life. Even when unspoken, this longing is an impetus to seek help and the factor that justifies the work inherent therein. This book masterfully explains how values work can be implemented in various treatment approaches. With deep clinical wisdom, readers are walked through various nuances of clarifying and promoting valued actions. Importantly, common difficulties are presented along with practical ways to address them. Useful for experienced and novice clinicians alike, this book will help you help your clients to live lives with the dignity and vitality they seek. --Andrew Gloster, PhD, professor at the University of Basel, where he heads the division of clinical psychology and intervention science--Andrew Gloster, PhD How many sunsets do you have left? Strong scripts, suggested exercises and homework, nuanced troubleshooting, and sticky metaphors all vividly show clinical methods to build lives worth living. Surprisingly creative later chapters give even experienced therapists new directions. This book is worth the investment. --Kelly Koerner, PhD, author of Doing Dialectical Behavior Therapy--Kelly Koerner, PhD This is a wonderfully important book which reminds us that the goal of therapy and living well is not simply to eradicate pain, discomfort, or suffering, but to discover what we truly value; a task that requires us to be open to these important life experiences. A real breath of fresh air at a time when our definitions of happiness and many popular treatments for mental illness have been overly influenced by the feel-good movement. --Brock Bastian, PhD, professor in the department of psychology at the University of Melbourne, and author of The Other Side of Happiness--Brock Bastian, PhD Fresh, comprehensive, and clear, if you must choose only one book about values in therapy, choose this one. It covers every topic of importance with grace, never letting the authors' obvious sophistication get in the way of serving the needs of the reader. You will feel supported and empowered, and your clients will be uplifted. Whether or not you are an acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) clinician, if you care about values work in therapy, this is the book you have been waiting for. --Steven C. Hayes, PhD, Foundation Professor in the department of psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno; and codeveloper of ACT--Steven C. Hayes, PhD Values in Therapy has changed the way I work with clients, and also my own inner life. The theory and practice suggested by the book are deceptively simple and very powerful. Jenna LeJeune and Jason Luoma have written an insightful, often surprising, supremely practical guide to helping counselors bring meaning and purpose to their own lives and the lives of their clients. --Martha Beck, PhD, New York Times bestselling author of Finding Your Own North Star--Martha Beck, PhD