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Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Lilian Dindo: ACT Therapy for OCD, Anxiety, and Obsessive Thoughts

Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal

Curt Jaimungal

Physics, Philosophy, Society & Culture, Science

4.6606 Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Lilian Dindo explains Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for anxiety, panic attacks, and obsessive thoughts They discuss how ACT can help uncover personal values, differentiate anxiety from excitement, and even boost learning in math and physics.0:00 Introduction4:05 What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) therapy?8:12 Suffering is a part of life11:06 ACT is not just for therapy, but for general illness and rejection14:24 Lilian's feeling anxiety in this interview *right now*, but ACT is helping15:57 Dealing with panic attacks18:22 "Anxiety" and "excitement" are physiologically indistinguishable20:00 Implementing ACT (specific example)26:15 Stop avoiding. The mind works by addition (not subtraction)!30:00 Choosing courage vs. "mustering" courage30:51 Coping vs. mollifying33:45 Goal oriented vs. Value oriented36:06 How to uncover your own values?42:14 Do values imply a "should"? (specific example)47:45 What separates those for whom therapy works for, from those it doesn't?54:57 Suicidal ideation / psychosis (there's hope with ACT)57:14 Enhancing learning math / physics59:50 Acceptance vs Acknowledgement1:01:40 Physical vs Psychology (mind and body connection)1:05:53 A visual example you can employ to abate anxiety1:10:39 The role of belief / hope / faith / trust1:11:08 "Thanking" the negative thought / emotion1:11:50 People don't suffer with just ONE issue, but multipleSPONSORS:- Patreon: https://patreon.com/curtjaimungal- Crypto: https://tinyurl.com/cryptoTOE- PayPal: https://tinyurl.com/paypalTOE- Twitter: https://twitter.com/TOEwithCurt- Discord Invite: https://discord.com/invite/kBcnfNVwqs- iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/better-left-unsaid-with-curt-jaimungal/id1521758802- Pandora: https://pdora.co/33b9lfP- Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4gL14b92xAErofYQA7bU4e- Subreddit r/TheoriesOfEverything: https://reddit.com/r/theoriesofeverything- Merch: https://tinyurl.com/TOEmerchRESOURCES:- YouTube link: https://youtu.be/L_hI7JNsbt0- Lilian's links:- http://actfindyourpath.com- https://www.bcm.edu/people-search/lilian-dindo-20557- https://www.bcm.edu/research/faculty-labs/act-on-health-lab- http://contextualscience.org- Links mentioned:- Karl Friston episode: https://youtu.be/SWtFU1Lit3M- A H Almaas episode: https://youtu.be/6JlKf1QAvXA- Curt's Crash Course on Theoretical Physics: https://youtu.be/e8kyvdPP8os Theories of Everything with Curt Jaimungal features long-form, technically detailed interviews with leading researchers in physics, mathematics, consciousness, and philosophy, exploring topics at the level of active research. For academics, graduate students, and anyone seeking depth beyond popular science. SPONSOR: I personally subscribe to The Economist. TOE listeners get 35% off the annual subscription. No other podcast has this! https://economist.com/TOE FOLLOW: Substack | Spotify | YouTube | Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

At Warwick Business School, we don't just teach business. We put you at the centre of it.

0:05.6

As our London hub in The Shard, you'll be surrounded by global players, bold thinkers and key decision makers.

0:12.8

Talked by industry leaders, you'll step out of the office and into an environment that's closer to the boardroom than a classroom, where every conversation and connection counts.

0:23.0

Discover our executive education, MBA, and DBA programs now by searching WBS, London.

0:30.1

As with all podcasts, you can click on the timestamp in the description, or over here you can see the timestamp to skip this intro.

0:36.8

Lilian Dindo is a professor of psychiatry at the Baylor College School of Medicine, and a researcher, as well as popularizer of the psychotherapeutic technique, or way of life, depending on how you look at it, called acceptance and commitment therapy, which we call act therapy.

0:51.3

If you've watched the recent Carl Fristin episode, which is linked in the description,

0:55.9

then you'll see that I consider that one to be the most important episode of all the

0:59.7

theories of everything podcasts.

1:01.5

And that's in particular because it serves as a cautionary tale of what serious examinations

1:06.4

into consciousness and reality-altering theories can cause in one's mind and it's not pleasant.

1:12.5

You may have heard me use the term abid genocis, which is what I think science will develop

1:16.7

to, merging the inwardly experiential knowledge with the outwardly objective knowledge.

1:22.4

Broadly speaking on the Toll podcast, one of the eventual goals is to take a syncretic approach

1:27.1

to both the East and the West,

1:28.9

which are ordinarily kept separate. What I like about Lily and Dindo is that the act therapy

1:34.1

that she advocates for not only helped me during recent extreme psychological turmoil, but simultaneously

1:39.9

it serves as a bridge between the philosophies of the East and the Practices of the West.

1:44.4

Now, if you're interested in the philosophies of the West and the practices of the east,

1:48.3

then you can watch the recent A.H. Elmas episode, linked in the description as well.

1:52.5

My name is Kurt Jemungle, and I'm a filmmaker slash podcaster slash person investigating theories of everything

1:59.3

from a theoretical physics perspective, but as well as

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