Self-as-Context

The ability to understand ourselves and take others’ perspectives is fundamental to the development of our sense of self. This article explores self-as-context, an acceptance and commitment therapy process that fosters a healthy sense of self and flexible perspective-taking. The discussion begins with a conceptual overview of self-as-context, highlighting its relevance to psychological well-being and its relation to both relational frame theory and traditional behavior-analytic principles. Also provided here are clinical descriptions of the process of change involved in developing a self-as-context repertoire and the means of assessing self-as-context, as well as a synthesis of the research that has been done on self-as-context to date. Finally, future directions for research and practice with this process of change are described.