Glossary // Glossary term Clinical
Experiential avoidance
The attempt to escape, suppress or alter unwanted internal experiences, such as thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations, even when doing so causes harm over time. Hayes and colleagues proposed it as a functional process shared by many psychological difficulties, and it became a central target of acceptance and commitment therapy. An activity is not avoidant by its form; what matters is whether its main function is to make an internal state go away. Why a restorative experience can leave the underlying difficulty unchanged: negative reinforcement, experiential avoidance, acute mood effects of exercise, rumination and the peak-end rule. Relief reinforces whatever produced it, and memory overweights peaks and endings. A short, honest review after a cathartic experience separates relief from resolution and prevents escape from becoming a habit. The works the definition rests on, with the level of evidence each was appraised at. (1996). Experiential avoidance and behavioral disorders: A functional dimensional approach to diagnosis and treatment. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.64.6.1152 Supports the claim that experiential avoidance was proposed as a process common to many psychological difficulties. A theoretical argument drawing on diverse research, not a direct test.Where the site uses it
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