Book Club
"The Happiness Trap" (Russ Harris) makes a great book to host a book club for. In conjunction with our podcast, there is a lot of great material for discussions. We encourage you to make the book club your own, but also provide a few discussion questions for each podcast to get you started. You can also find other great resources here: http://thehappinesstrap.com/free-resources/
Podcast 1
Chapters 1-3
1. What myths do you find yourself most believing? What behaviors do you use to live according to that myth?
2. Do you buy into the idea that attempting to control our emotions causes emotional suffering?
3. What control strategies do you use most frequently? What are some outcomes of those control strategies?
4. Describe in your own words the six core principles of ACT. Which principles seem like the easiest? Which ones will be more challenging?
5. Discuss your general impressions of incorporating mindfulness into your daily routine
Podcast 2
Chapters 4-14
1. What thoughts do you find yourself fusing to?
2. What defusion strategy did you find most compelling? Did you use any of these strategies in your daily living?
3. Discuss your reactions to the idea of the “observing self”.
4. Discuss the Struggle Switch and its application in your life.
5. What judgments do you give your emotions? How might you apply defusion techniques to those judgments?
6. Discuss your reactions to expansion. Have you practiced? If so, how did it go?
Podcast 3
Chapters 15-23
1. What urges do you find yourself most often acting on? How might you practice urge surfing?
2. Discuss the concept of connection and its place in ACT. What connection exercises stood out to you?
3. What role does the emotion of fear play in your life?
4. What stories are you telling yourself that are preventing self-acceptance?
5. What are you already doing in your life that feelings rich and meaningful? What things are you doing that do not have value to you?
Podcast 4
Chapters 24-33
1. Discuss your results from the Life Values Questionnaire starting on p. 174. What values are most important to you? What values are being neglected right now?
2. What is the most important value to you to start working on right away?
3. How are goals different than values?
4. How might you use an action plan (p. 188) to help you achieve your goals? Break one of your goals into an action plan and discuss with the group.
5. Discuss the concept of willingness and its connection to the ACT model. What are ways that you can demonstrate willingness in your every day life?