Helping our patients shift from fear driven to value driven

People are often driven by fear or driven by passion/value.

Fear driven is more of a defensive move. Passion/value driven is more of an assertive move. Each strategy has its purpose, pros and cons. Like a game of chess, it’s important to know when to defend, and when to move forward. Too much optimism and passion driven can be problematic. Too much fear driven is also problematic.

As Family Doctors, many of the patients we see are often driven by fear rather than passion/values. Exploring and acknowledging their underlying fears are important for many presentations.

Being driven by fear is often very tiring. If being in this state for too long, it can be exhausting.

So in counseling, especially in Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT)/FocusedACT, we help folks to shift their actions towards a more value driven mindset, rather than being stuck in their unhelpful thoughts, fears, and the fight/flight responses.

The question is, are we and our patients more fear driven or more value driven?

Can we lead them towards a more value driven one?