Being Flexible With

Dropping Anchor
(Don’t Stick To The Script!)
Practical Tips For ACT Therapists

By Russ Harris, author of ACT Made Simple and The Happiness Trap
What Goes
Wrong?

In this eBook, we’re going to look at a very flexible mindfulness practice which I
call ‘Dropping Anchor’: a powerful intervention for disengagement, emotion
dsyregulation, worrying, ruminating, panic attacks, dissociation, extreme
fusion, emotional overwhelm, and a whole lot more. It's a quick and simple
skill to learn - but sometimes therapists and clients get a bit stuck, for a variety
of reasons. This eBook doesn't cover all the basic nuts of bolts of dropping
anchor - how to introduce it it to clients and use it with a range of issues (for
that, you'll need to check out my textbook, ACT Made Simple, 2nd edition or do
one of my online courses). Instead, what we're looking at here is how to adapt
and modify this practice to get past common sticking points. Almost always,
when therapists get a bit stuck with dropping anchor, it’s because they keep …

STICKING TO THE SCRIPT!

We could create hundreds, if not thousands, of different dropping anchor
practices, through improvising around the three central processes, which we
can remember with the acronym ACE:

A - Acknowledge your inner experience

C - Connect with your body
E – Engage in what you’re doing
Note: as alternatives, A can be ‘Acknowledge your thoughts and feelings’ or ‘Acknowledge
your inner world’; C can be ‘Come back into your body’; and E can be ‘Engage in the
world’ or 'Engage in current activity'.)

There is no need to follow a script when doing dropping anchor exercises, and you can
make them last for as short or as long as you like, from 20 seconds to 20 minutes.

If you’re not familiar with dropping anchor, the next two pages will take you through it. So
if you know it well, skip ahead. And here’s a handout for clients that explains what it is and
how it can help them.

You can also download or stream some free audio recordings of ‘dropping anchor’
exercises, varying from 1 minute to 11 minutes in length, from the top left hand box on this
webpage.

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

DROPPING ANCHOR:
ACKNOWLEDGE, CONNECT,
ENGAGE

A = ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR THOUGHTS AND

FEELINGS
Silently and kindly acknowledge whatever is ‘showing up’ inside you: thoughts, feelings,
emotions, memories, sensations, urges. Take the stance of a curious scientist, observing what’s
going on in your inner world. Notice: What’s your mind doing? What thoughts are ‘popping
up’? What’s happening in your body? What feelings are ‘showing up’? Acknowledge whatever
thoughts and feelings are present. If you can, put this into words. You can silently say to yourself
something like, ‘I’m noticing anxiety’, or ‘Here’s grief’, or ‘There’s my mind worrying’ or ‘I’m
having a feeling of sadness’ or ‘I’m having thoughts about being stupid’. And while continuing to
acknowledge your thoughts and feelings, also ....

C = CONNECT WITH YOUR BODY

Come back into and connect with your physical body. Find your own way of doing this. You
could try some or all of the following, or find your own methods:

• Slowly pushing your feet into the floor

• Slowly straightening up your back and spine; if in a chair, try sitting upright and forward
• Slowly pressing your fingertips together
• Slowly stretching your arms or neck, shrugging your shoulders
• Slowly breathing in and out (very gently, not deeply)

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

 Note: you are not trying to turn away from, escape, avoid or distract yourself from what is
happening in your inner world. The aim is to remain aware of your thoughts and feelings,
continue to acknowledge their presence .... and at the same time, connect with your body,
and actively move it. Why? So you can gain as much control as possible over your physical
actions, (even though you can’t control your thoughts and feelings). And as you acknowledge
your thoughts & feelings, and connect with your body, also ....

E = ENGAGE IN WHAT YOU’RE DOING

Get a sense of where you are and refocus your attention on the activity you are
doing. Find your own way of doing this. You could try some or all of the following
suggestions, or find your own methods:

• Look around the room and notice 5 things you can see
• Notice 3 or 4 things you can hear
• Notice what you can smell or taste or sense in your nose and mouth
• Notice what you are doing
• Give your full attention to the task or activity at hand

Ideally, run through the ACE cycle slowly 3 to 6 times, to turn it into a 2 to 4 minute exercise.
(You can, of course, make it go for much longer, if desired.) The exercise successfully
concludes when you are a) aware of your thoughts and feelings, but not fighting with or
controlled by them, b) in control of your physical actions, and c) focusing on and engaging in
what you are doing.

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

DROP THE SCRIPT!
As long as we’re repeatedly cycling through these processes - Acknowledge,
Connect, Engage - we’re dropping anchor’, and there’s no need to follow a specific
script. So for example, suppose you are following a sequence a bit like the script on
the previous page, and your client says:

• ‘This is too overwhelming, I can’t focus on all these different things.’

• ‘I don’t want to focus on my body; it’s too painful/ I don’t like the way it feels.’
• ‘I can’t focus on anything. Everything feels too painful.’

What these comments tell you is … drop the script! Stop following the script instructions, and
instead work flexibly with the ACE processes. What follows are some suggestions to get you
thinking.

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

When The Client Is
Overwhelmed

A: ACKNOWLEDGE
T: So take a moment to acknowledge right now you’re overwhelmed/everything feels too
painful/you can’t focus/it’s all too much/you want to just give up and lie down/you feel
hopeless… etc. Ideally, use the client’s own words to describe their inner experience. If they
can’t identify specific thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories or sensations that’s okay – just
acknowledge they are ‘struggling with something very painful’ (or use some similar expression).

C: CONNECT
If the client can’t speak:

T: Can you nod your head, to show you can still hear me? Okay, so notice this – you’re having
some really difficult feelings right now … and at the same time you can move your neck and
your head to communicate, and you can also use your ears to hear me. So there are all these
difficult feelings here … and there’s a body here that you can use in various ways … to hear
things and to move and to communicate …

If the client is listening, speaking, communicating:

T: Okay, so notice this – you’re having some really difficult feelings right now … and at the
same time, you’re able to use your body; you’re using your
ears to hear me … and your mouth to talk to me … and your neck to gently nod your head …
And can you shift your position in the chair a little, see if you can get more comfortable … So
there are all these difficult feelings here right now … and there’s a body here that you can use
in various ways … to see, to hear, to move, to communicate …

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

 Flexibly Connecting
With The Body

To connect with the body, we can ask clients to notice anything through the 5
senses and at the same time highlight the body part involved in doing the sensing

Examples:

• Using your eyes now to look around …

• Using your ears to hear my voice …
• Using your back and your legs to gently change your position in the chair … to shift to a
more comfortable position ... to ease yourself back against the chair … or to sit forwards if
you prefer … or cross/uncross your legs … whatever you prefer …
• Using your nose and lungs to gently inhale …
• Using your neck to gently nod your head …
• Using your hands to gently feel the surface of whatever they are touching …
• Using your chest walls to breathe in and out …

After we’ve done this we can then highlight Connecting with the body at the same time as
Acknowledging inner experience:

T: (Acknowledging) So there are some difficult thoughts feelings present for you right now …
and you have a body around those feelings (Connecting) that you’re using right now … using
your eyes to see, and your ears to hear, and your lungs to breathe … and notice how you can
move your body, and make contact with things around you, and communicate with me, even
while those feelings are here ….”
And we can then move on to …

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

E: ENGAGE

T: So see if you can use this body now to engage with the world around you; open your
eyes and ears, and notice - what can you see and hear in the room around you?
For example, can you notice you and me here, working together?
Can you notice the feeling of the chair beneath you?
So there are difficult feelings here, and a body that you can use, and a whole world
around you … and can you notice what we’re doing here, right now … communicating
with each other and working together, even with all these difficult feelings present?

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

The ACE Cycle

The idea is to flexibly work with ACE, cycling through these processes, until the client
is mindfully grounded: that is, aware of their inner experience, with a reasonable
degree of control over their physical actions, and able to engage in and focus on
current activity in the therapy session.

If the client is responsive to the therapist ... even if they are so overwhelmed, frozen or
dissociated that they can do nothing but silently nod their head or tap a foot or a finger ...
that’s enough to make a start on the ACE process. Instructions might include:

A – Acknowledge: Right now you are struggling with something very difficult that you can’t
currently put in words …

C- Connect: See if you can nod your head a little just to show me that you can hear me … and
notice that you’re nodding your head right now, using the muscles of your neck to move it ….
And see if you can also gently tap one of your feet up and down … either one .. that’s it … and
just notice it moving … and see if you can also move the other foot …. (additional instructions
might involve opening their eyes or shifting position in the chair or noticing how their back
leans against the chair or noticing their ribcage rising and falling as they breathe, or tapping
fingers, and so on.)

E – Engage: So there’s something very difficult you’re struggling with right now, and at the
same time you can move your body in various ways – nod your head, tap your feet, change
your position (mentions any other things the client just did with their body in the Connect
process)… and see if you can also really get a sense of my voice, reaching you … you don’t
have to look at me, just get a sense of where I’m sitting, how I’m speaking … a sense of you
and me working together here

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

Can We Skip From A to E Without the C?

Yes, we can. But the C adds an extra useful element; it gives a sense of regaining some
control over physical actions, which is often very useful, especially when it comes to
committed action.

Here’s how we might go from A to E without C:

Therapist: So there are difficult feelings here that you’re struggling with … and there’s also a
whole world around you … so I’m wondering if, as well as those difficult feelings, can you notice
what you can see as you look around … and notice what you can hear … and notice what
you’re touching with your hands … and notice you and me here … right now … communicating
with each other … working together, as a team … even with all these difficult feelings present …

Can We Just Do C and E, and Drop the A?

The problem is, if we do this – if we don’t repeatedly acknowledge the difficult inner experiences
that are present - then this exercise will no longer function as mindful grounding. Instead, it will
function as distraction – which is the very opposite of mindfulness. Distraction comes from the
Latin word ‘distrahere’, which means to drag away or draw apart. So distraction means turning
away from difficult inner experiences. Mindfulness involves turning towards difficult inner
experiences, with awareness and openness; thus the repeated instructions to ‘Acknowledge’
thoughts and feelings when dropping anchor.
So we could start with a focus mainly on the C and the E, but we quickly need to follow this with a
bit of A, or it becomes a distraction technique. In other words, we go C=>E=>A instead of
A=>C=>E, in each cycle. We can also “titrate” how much attention goes to difficult inner
experiences; for example, we may ask the client to keep just 10% of attention on their inner world
and 90% on their outer world. Later, we may experiment with 20/80, 30/70, and so on.

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

What If The Client Has Pain From A Physical Injury Or Illness?

Then the C focuses on moving or using parts of the body that either don’t hurt, or don’t increase
pain when used/moved. For example, C may be:
Can you adjust your position in the chair, so it’s a bit more comfortable.
Can you use your eyes right now, to look around?
Can you use your ears, to hear what I’m saying?
Can you use your mouth, to speak to me?
Can you ever so gently and slowly wiggle your fingers?
Can you ever so gently and slowly wiggle your toes?
Can you ever so gently, alter your breathing … see if you can exhale more slowly, keep the
outbreath going a bit longer … pause a second before the next breath in …
So notice, even with these feelings present, you can use your body to do a whole range of things.
And let’s now use your body to engage with the world around you ….”

Obviously, the above suggestions are modified to suit the client. For example, if wiggling fingers
is extremely painful, then you wouldn’t do it.

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

What If The Client Can’t Move Their Arms And Legs Due To A Serious
Illness Or Injury?

Then the C may be:

Can you use your eyes right now, to look around?
Can you use your ears, to hear what I’m saying?
Can you use your mouth, to speak to me?
Can you move your tongue inside your mouth, press it up against the roof?
Can you use the muscles of your forehead to raise your eyebrows?
Can you use the muscles of your ribcage to breathe in and out?
So notice, even with these feelings present, you can use your body to do things. And let’s now
use your body to engage with the world around you ….

What If The Client Doesn’t Want To Connect With Their Body Because
Of Difficult Feelings/Sensations/Emotions That They Want To Avoid?

In this case the C focuses on parts of the body that are ‘islands of safety’ – parts of the body
where you’re unlikely to encounter those avoided feelings and emotions. The most likely parts of
the body for encountering difficult feelings and emotions are the throat, chest, tummy and pelvis.
Hands, fingers, feet, toes, knees, elbows, shoulders are – for most people – likely to be ‘safe’
parts of the body to move and/or focus on.
Over time, we can help the client to connect with other ‘scarier’ parts of the body – a form of
graded exposure.

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

What If The Client Is Reluctant To Move Their Arms And Legs
For Other Reasons? Or Is Somewhat ‘Stiff’ And ‘Frozen’ Due To
Hypoarousal Or Dissociation?

Then the C can focus on the interface between your body and the physical world around you.
For example:
Can you notice the position in which you are sitting …
Can you notice your buttocks resting on the seat beneath you …
Can you notice your back against the chair …
Can you notice where your arms are ….
Can you notice where your hands are and what they are touching …
Can you notice where your feet are …
Can you notice your chest, rising and falling, as you breathe in and out…

So notice, even with these difficult thoughts and feelings present, your body is supporting you
… holding you upright in the chair, helping you to breath, enabling you to physically contact the
world around you … And see if you can use your body a little right now .. to lean slightly back into
the chair or lean slightly forward away from the chair, whichever you prefer …and to slightly lower
your hands and let them rest more heavily on your knees/lap … and to ever so gently and slowly
nod your head to show me you’re with me …

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

What If The Client Is Just So Overwhelmed By Their Current Inner
Experience, They Are Unable/Unwilling To Drop Anchor? They Just
Want To/Need To Escape From It?
Then we acknowledge that at this point in therapy, that’s where the client is, and we make a safe,
compassionate, non-judgmental “holding space” in which we allow the client to do whatever
they normally do in reaction to this – which will most often be some method of distraction. And
we help them to notice what they are doing and give a name to it (e.g. “So notice how you are
distracting yourself/ notice how you have pushed this feeling down again/ notice how you are
numbing yourself/ notice how you are checking out of the room”).
We then explore what the client did, and we validate it! We acknowledge that at times it’s really
useful to be able to do that. And then we respectfully, gently, compassionately come back to
the costs of OVER-RELYING on such methods - and the benefits of learning a new and different
way of way of responding. (If the client is content to keep responding in such a manner, and
doesn’t want to learn new ways of responding, you will need to then clarify therapy goals – see
chapter six - and make sure you both have the same aim. Often, you’ll need to revisit “creative
hopelessness”.)
Over time, the aim is to develop the capacity to be able to open up and make room for those
difficult inner experiences – without fighting them, fleeing them, or getting jerked around by them.
Right now, though, we acknowledge that it’s too great a challenge for this particular client to
do that particular exercise with this particular thought/feeling/memory/sensation. However, that
doesn’t mean we give up on dropping anchor! What we do is help the client learn how to drop
anchor with some less challenging inner experiences.
In other words, we use one of the main principles of graded exposure: we break the challenge
down. We take baby steps; we go gently. We start with less-challenging inner experiences, and
we gradually up the ante. As Aesop said, “Little by little does the trick”. We practice dropping
anchor with less-challenging private experiences first, and we build up those mindfulness
muscles over time, helping the client to drop anchor with ever more difficult thoughts, emotions,
sensations and memories.

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

What If The Client In The Previous Scenario Goes Into An Extreme
Dissociative State?

We won’t let the client do that. We will carefully track the client’s reaction, and if necessary, we
will reduce the emphasis on A (Acknowledging the painful thoughts/feelings/memories that are
present) and we will ramp up the focus on the C and the E, in order to keep the client present in
the room: moving their body and using their five senses to engage.

Q: Is there a risk this will then function as distraction?

A: Yes, for sure. If there is little or no A (acknowledging the pain that’s present), this type of
practice will almost certainly no longer function as mindful grounding/dropping anchor/flexible
attention; instead it’s likely to function as a distraction technique.

Q: Is distraction okay in ACT?

Distraction is not a part of the ACT model – but if that’s what is needed for this client at this time
for coping with this particular overwhelming experience in this session, then yes, that’s okay. It is
a purely temporary measure. The idea is that, as soon as possible - ideally in the same session -
we help the client to learn a new and different method of responding, that’s radically different to
distraction. Again, think of it in terms of graded exposure: build up your ACE skills with less
challenging emotional states and exercises of shorter duration; then over time, progress to more
challenging emotional states and longer exercises.

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com
Using Dropping Anchor To Develop Other ACT Skills

You can easily incorporate or emphasise other ACT processes into the ACE exercises. The
‘Acknowledge’ part of ACE is the first step in both defusion and acceptance; so you can easily
extend this section of the exercise, and segue into deeper work with either or both of those core
processes. The ‘Connect’ part of ACE is committed action, and you can easily segue from here
into exploring actions you can take, aligned with your values. The ‘Engage’ part of ACE is all
about training up flexible contact with the present moment, and you can easily segue from here
into further work on narrowing, broadening, shifting or sustaining attention

Want To Know More?

To learn more about dropping anchor, and how to use it with a wide range of issues, you may
want to check out my textbook, ACT Made Simple, 2nd edition. You can also see it being used in
therapy sessions in my online courses at www.ImLearningACT.com

Good luck with it,

All the best,
Russ Harris

© Russ Harris 2020 ImLearningACT.com