The philosophy of suffering and pain

Differentiation between clean pain and dirty pain

To understand the philosophy of ACT, it is vital to distinguish between two types of negative experiences: "clean pain" and "dirty pain".

Clean pain is unavoidable suffering, inherent to the human condition and biology.

If we break a leg, there is physical pain. If we get fired from a job we loved, there is sadness and uncertainty. If we lose a loved one, there is grief.

This pain is a valid sign, a natural response to an injury or a loss, and it is not pathological; it is life itself manifesting itself. We cannot eliminate clean grief without eliminating life itself.

The problem arises with "dirty pain," which is the additional suffering that we ourselves manufacture in trying to fight the clean pain. It is the layer of secondary suffering generated by our non-acceptance.

Following the example of a job layoff: clean pain is sadness and financial worry.

Dirty pain appears when the mind starts to ruminate: "I'm a failure", "I should never have trusted them", "It's unfair, I shouldn't feel this way", "I have to stop being sad now or no one will hire me".

By fighting the original sadness, we generate anxiety, guilt and frustration. We get angry at being sad, or we become afraid of our own fear.

Acceptance and Commitment therapy seeks to eliminate this second layer (the dirty pain), allowing the clean pain to exist and follow its natural course without becoming a chronic trauma that paralyzes the person.

The goal of therapy: a rich life vs. a symptom-free life

There is a common misconception that the goal of going to a psychologist is to "stop feeling bad." ACT challenges this expectation head-on.

The purpose of this therapy is not symptom reduction (although this often occurs as a side effect), but the building of a valuable, rich and meaningful life.

It starts from the premise that it is impossible to live a full life without experiencing a full spectrum of emotions, including unpleasant ones.

If you want to love someone, you must be willing to feel the pain of loss or concern for their well-being.

If you want to succeed professionally, you must be willing to feel the stress of challenge or the fear of failure. You cannot have one side of the coin without the other.

Therefore, the therapeutic goal is to help the client change his or her agenda: to stop investing all his or her energy in "not feeling anxiety" (which is a losing and exhausting battle) and start investing that energy in "doing what matters." The goal is to maximize human potential.

The guiding question is not "How do I get rid of this fear?", but "What would I do with my life today if this fear was not an obstacle to moving?".

Therapeutic success is measured by increases in valued behaviors and expanded life repertoire, not by decreases in scores on an anxiety test.

Summary

It is critical to distinguish between "clean pain," which is the natural and inevitable suffering of life, and "dirty pain," which we unnecessarily manufacture as we struggle with that experience.

The goal of therapy is not the elimination of symptoms or feeling good, but to help the person build a rich and meaningful life, accepting the full spectrum of emotions.

It seeks to shift the agenda from one of control to one of valued action, investing energy in doing what matters rather than wasting it trying not to feel discomfort.