Therapy Approaches: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Periodically, I will use this space to provide an overview of the different psychotherapy theories I use in my practice. Depending on your circumstances and needs, I may suggest a specific approach, and it can be helpful to understand the “why?” behind each theory.

Today, we will discuss Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

What is ACT?

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy draws on the practice of mindfulness – and acceptance – combined with commitment and behavior changes.

The goal of ACT

This approach is designed to help individuals manage the challenges and pain life sends their way. While difficulties are part of life for all humans, the way we react to setbacks and loss can help us feel more peaceful and in control. Pain can’t always be avoided, but we can reframe the way we process that pain in our inner thoughts.

When I recommend ACT to my clients, it is often because they are feeling an urgent sense of struggle in their daily lives. We work together on techniques that help them face and manage challenges without being overwhelmed by struggle. Through ACT, individuals can achieve more psychological flexibility, a useful skill that can lead to a better quality of life.

Key aspects of ACT

ACT draws upon another behavioral psychology theory, Relational Frame Theory, which focuses on the way language and word choice can impact a person’s thought processes. Negative words and phrases can cause a person to experience the world with a greater sense of fear and stress.

ACT uses six core processes to help people experience the world in a more positive way. It helps people be more aware and present in the moment. The six processes, as described by the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS), are:

• Acceptance: In ACT, people are encouraged to accept what is – rather than avoid it. For example, someone who feels fear in social settings would be encouraged to experience and accept the emotional response as it arises, rather than trying to fight it.
• Cognitive defusion: This step gives people tools for minimizing recurring negative thoughts. Individuals can label thoughts (e.g. “I am thinking that my fear makes me weak” vs. “My fear makes me weak”) or think about them in a new context by describing their size, color or shape. These techniques help take the weight and believability out of the thought – defusing their destructive impact.
• Being present: In this step, people are coached to use their words to describe facts and events as they occur, and without judgment, rather than making assumptions and applying negative reactions. Learning to be present and to interact with people and situations as they are – not how you assume they will be – can help you develop greater flexibility.
• Self as context: This process of ACT helps people view their own role in a situation without judgment or attachment. The “self” can be an observer without needing to have a stake in the outcome. Mindfulness exercises can be helpful here as individuals learn to remove their personal biases and judgments from the present moment. A couple popular metaphors used to illustrate this concept are thinking of the self as the sky and thoughts like the weather, or self as a chessboard and thoughts as pieces on the chessboard.
• Values: An individual’s personal values are examined and honed through ACT. Your therapist will help you identify and describe your values on your own terms. Rather than feeling obligated to follow values that society, family or friends dictate (or the values you assume they hold), ACT encourages you to get in touch with your own set of values.
• Committed action: Finally, ACT encourages behavior changes based on an individual’s identified values. Your therapist will likely give you assignments to help you commit to short- and long-term goals and develop associated behavior changes to help you achieve them.

Working with an ACT therapist

As mentioned above, the concept of “mindfulness” is at the heart of acceptance and commitment therapy. There are numerous ways people can work to become more mindful – through meditation or yoga, for example. However, ACT takes that concept a step further by incorporating values and behavior changes, and that’s where working with a trained therapist can be helpful. The therapist not only coaches you through mindfulness techniques, but guides you through exercises that can help you apply mindfulness to your everyday life – and to change your life for the better.

In my practice, I take the time to really listen to you and to identify an approach—or a combination of approaches—that will work best for your needs and goals. It is my goal to help you tap into your full potential and to achieve a greater sense of contentment and well-being.

If you would like to learn more about ACT or the other approaches I use in my practice, please contact me for an appointment. I am a Denver, CO therapist located near the Cherry Creek, Washington Park, Bonnie Brae, Virginia Village, Glendale, Lowry, Capitol Hill, and Congress Park neighborhoods.

Sincerely,