About Us
Live with Awareness, Courage and Love (ACL) Meetups make widely available to the general public, uses the concepts of Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP) which focuses on the healing power of present-moment authentic interactions. Research indicates that people who are more interpersonally connected are healthier physically and psychologically, and live happier, more vibrant lives.
We began this ACL in 2017 as a meetup in Westchester County. Presently, our ACL group is online and meets monthly. A Spanish speaking group is forming soon. We are committed to promoting a vision of open-hearted presence and courageous living to interested participant. For this reason, we provide ACL sessions upon request to a small group of interested members.
Awareness, Courage, and Love (ACL) Global Project is a nonprofit organization created in 2015. After four years ACL meetups have grown in 92 cities around the world. In the TedxEverett below, Mavis Tsai speaks about the power of connection for mental health and wellness. She presents the key ingredients for meaningful connections and powerful questions to create unforgettable conversation.
A story is like water that you heat for your bath. It takes messages between the fire and your skin. It lets them meet, and it cleans you.
Jalal al-Din Rumi
About Me
My name is Annecy Baez, I am a psychotherapist, educator, and writer, and I am an Associate Professor at Touro College Graduate School of Social Work where I teach clinical social work practice courses.
I am a multidisciplinary artist, using diverse forms of self-expression: collage art, photography, book art, poetry, and creative writing for healing and personal transformation. I am the author of My Daughter’s Eyes and Other Stories, winner of the Marmol prize for first Latina fiction (2007). My work can be found on annecybaez.net.
I came to Awareness, Courage, and Love after training in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP). I discovered FAP after training with Steven Hayes in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Both ACT and FAP allowed me to bring a deeper connection with others,s both gave me creative tools to help them find what gave their life meaning and purpose so that they could pursue their passion with determination and commitment.
Through FAP training, I learned about Awareness, Courage, and Love meetups and I began to facilitate them in Westchester, New York. ACL meetups are co-facilitated by my dear friend, Kim Porreca, a Focusing-Oriented Trainer with whom I trained in Focusing back in 2008. Eugene Gendlin’s Focusing is a process that taps into the wisdom of the body, a wisdom that can be used in every aspect of our lives for self-awareness and emotional healing. It is about going inward and noticing how we feel and befriending what comes up compassionately and without judgment.
ACL reminded me of Focusing, through guided imagery, and thoughtful questions we can become more deeply aware, courageous and compassionate.
Thank you, Kim, for the expertise you bring to the ACL meetups. I also want to thank Sue Tyrell, Margo Noyola and Millie Noyola for the expertise they each bring to the process of ACL. Thank you all for your presence in my life, and the joy you bring to it.