Steven C. Hayes is a Nevada Foundation Professor at the Department of Psychology at the University of Nevada. He is best known for developing Acceptance and Commitment therapy (ACT). He is the author of 47 books and over 675 scientific articles, his career has focusedon an analysis of the nature of human language and cognition and the application of this to the understanding towards the alleviation of human suffering. Dr. Hayes has been President of APA divisions 25: or the Applied andPreventive Psychology, as well as president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.Google Scholar data ranks him among the top 935highest impact living scholars worldwide in all areas of study and Research.com lists him as the 63rd highest impact psychologist in the world.

In todays discussion we take a deep dive into the foundations of ACT, and subsequently, newdevelopments, such as its integration into process based therapy and the extended evolutionary meta-model. We then explore some of its core sub processes, such as defusion, acceptance, and values. We further discuss theirrelationship with trauma and addictions. Many other topics are talked about throughout, before ending on rapid fire questions providing a new angle unto who Steven Hayes is as a person. Feel free to skip around if any of these topics speak to you!