When things in your life get too much, or you can’t get rid of bad thoughts and feelings, you may look for something that will help. ACT, or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, gives people mental tools to help them get through hard times.
In ACT therapy, you learn to accept your feelings, pay more attention, and move toward what’s most important to you.
ACT is not like other therapies that try to change or avoid your thoughts; instead, it asks you to be aware of them and let them be. You have the chance to learn how to deal with problems and make decisions that are in line with your values.
Seeing how this model helps people make real, meaningful change is helpful if you want to know how ACT works or if it’s worth a try. The Cleveland Clinic’s explanation is a good summary.
Key Takeaways:
- ACT gives you useful ways to deal with tough feelings and thoughts.
- Acceptance, mindfulness, and actions based on values are all part of the model.
- You can make good changes in your daily life with ACT skills.
How the ACT Therapy Model Works
Accepting what you can’t change and doing something useful, even when you’re feeling down, are at the heart of ACT therapy. It teaches you how to deal with hard thoughts, stay in the present, and connect with your values.
Definition and Quick Look
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a behavior therapy that has been shown to work. You don’t have to fight your thoughts and feelings when you do this.
In other words, ACT is “transdiagnostic,” which means it can help with a wide range of mental health problems, not just one.
Counselors use ACT to help you deal with tough feelings like pain, anxiety, or grief in a healthier way. ACT isn’t just about getting rid of symptoms; it’s also about making your mind more flexible so you can stay open and present and do what matters even when things get difficult. You can learn more about this by giving a full explanation of the ACT model.
How Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Works
There are six main steps that make up ACT:
- Accepting what you’re going through
- Defusion of thought (getting away from negative thoughts)
- Mindfulness and being aware of the present moment
- “Self-as-Context” means that you see yourself as more than just your thoughts
- Making your own values clear
- Taking action to support those values
Together, these parts will help you find new ways to deal with problems. ACT lets you change how you relate to your stressful thoughts instead of trying to get rid of them.
The model shows you how to be aware of your emotions without getting stuck and then choose actions that are in line with your values. Check out the ACT principles that were talked about for more information.
ACT’s Main Goal
ACT’s main goal is to help you become more mentally flexible. The goal is to accept hard feelings instead of running away from them and to act in ways that are in line with your values.
Instead of “curing” bad feelings, it’s about making new ways of dealing with them. This can help with stress, anxiety, long-term pain, and even finding meaning in hard times. This idea is broken down well in the purpose behind the ACT model.
The Idea Behind ACT and How It Works
Today, there is a type of psychology called Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). Its main goal is to help you live by your values and deal with your thoughts and feelings in a more useful way. These thoughts are based on real psychological theories and studies, not just guesses.
Thinking about ACT in Psychology
Being able to change how you think is at the heart of ACT. When you do that, you can have hard thoughts and feelings and still act in ways that are important to you.
ACT tells you to accept the things you can’t change and make choices based on your values. You don’t fight thoughts or feelings that you don’t want, you learn how to deal with them better.
Mindfulness, acceptance, and living by your values are all used in ACT to help you better choose. This branch of behavioral science looks at how you interact with your inner world and what you do in many different settings.
This model explains how accepting your thoughts and making decisions based on your values can help your mental health.
Foundations in Philosophy
Functional contextualism is what ACT is based on. It looks at thoughts and actions in the bigger picture, not just as symptoms that need to be fixed.
What happened in the past and what is happening now affect how you think, feel, and act. You learn not to fight your private feelings by going to therapy. Instead, you learn to notice and accept them.
Acceptance and commitment theory says that facing problems and focusing on what’s important can lead to real change. This method is different from therapies that change or challenge your thoughts.
Functional contextualism is interested in what works, not in the “truth” of your beliefs or ideas.
Relational Frame Theory (RFT)
ACT is based on the scientific theory of relational frame theory (RFT). RFT looks at how your mind connects things like words, thoughts, and events. These links can be helpful, but they can also keep you stuck in patterns that aren’t helpful.
RFT says that you suffer when you take your thoughts seriously as facts instead of seeing them as temporary events. In ACT, this idea is used to teach a skill called “cognitive defusion,” which means being aware of your thoughts without letting them take over.
When you understand how language and thought work, you can give your mind some space. This helps you be flexible and live by your values, which is good for long-term growth. Check out the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science if you want to learn more.
What the ACT Model Is Based On
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is based on core processes that help you be more flexible with your thoughts and feelings. These skills help you deal with problems and make your life better.
Six Important ACT Steps
ACT stands on six core processes: acceptance, cognitive defusion, contact with the present moment, self as context, values, and committed action.
Each one does something different, but when you use them all together, they help you stay on track with your goals, even when things get tough.
Acceptance and mindfulness processes (acceptance, defusion, present moment, self as context) and commitment and behavior change processes (values, committed action) are two main ideas that some therapists use to describe these types of processes.
Working with these six parts will help you learn how to deal with tough thoughts, stay in the present, recognize your values, and act in ways that matter. There is also in-depth study of six core ACT processes.
Being Aware and Accepting
Acceptance and mindfulness in ACT mean letting your thoughts and feelings come to you instead of fighting them. Acceptance means letting tough feelings or memories be there without trying to get rid of them or fix them.
Being mindful means focusing on the present moment, using all of your senses, and taking in your surroundings. You could, for instance, pay attention to your breathing or how your feet feel on the ground. These skills help you be aware of your thoughts without getting stuck in them.
You are less likely to avoid or block out pain when you use acceptance and mindfulness together. This process helps you become more aware of the world and yourself over time. In ACT, there is a simple summary of acceptance and mindfulness.
Cognitive Defusion
When you have cognitive defusion, you see your thoughts as words or pictures instead of facts or rules you need to follow. You can be aware of your thoughts without letting them control what you do when you defuse them.
To help yourself get rid of a tough thought, you could say “I have the thought that…” before it comes up, or picture your thoughts as leaves floating down a stream. It’s easier to act in line with your values when you can separate your thoughts from them.
Cognitive defusion can help you make better decisions by reducing the influence of negative thoughts. You can respond more freely and make choices that fit who you want to be if you give your thoughts some space. See cognitive defusion in ACT for more real-life examples.
How and Where to Use ACT
In Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), you focus on doing things that make your Life better while doing exercises and strategies that are useful.
There are many ways to use ACT interventions, so they can be changed to fit different needs, whether they are for personal growth or clinical treatment.
Interventions by ACT
Instead of trying to push away difficult thoughts and feelings, ACT interventions teach you how to notice them and deal with them. You’ll get better at just calling painful thoughts what they are: thoughts. The name for this in ACT is cognitive defusion.
Acceptance is another important habit. By learning to accept your feelings, you give them a place to exist instead of fighting them. Being mindful helps you stay in the present and pay attention to your feelings as they come up.
Value clarification activities are often used by therapists. These help you figure out what’s important to you and set goals that are in line with that.
The goal is to make your mind more flexible so that you can deal with problems in life without letting bad thoughts or feelings take over.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
ACT can be used in one-on-one counseling, group therapy, or even self-help books and videos. We use ACT to help people with all sorts of mental health problems, like stress, anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, and so on.
ACT can help some people grow as people or make their relationships and work lives better.
You can practice the main ACT skills—acceptance, cognitive disfusion, present-moment awareness, self-as-context, values, and committed action—through exercises and homework that are specifically made for you. As an example, a therapist might help you recognize and accept your anxiety and then show you how to take steps that will help you.
These strategies can help you make changes that last and deal with upsetting thoughts or urges better over time. The ACT overview from the Cleveland Clinic is a good way to see how ACT can be changed to fit different people and situations.
ACT in the Real World
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) gives you real tools to help you deal with painful feelings and tough thoughts. It really helps people in clinical settings, especially those who are dealing with anxiety, depression, or long-term health problems.
ACT to Help with Depression and Anxiety
ACT can help you change how you deal with your worries and sadness if they are making you feel down. You learn mindfulness skills that help you stay in the present instead of trying to get rid of them.
Therapists help you learn to accept your bad feelings instead of trying to avoid them. Accepting things as they are lets you focus on things that matter, even if you’re feeling anxious or sad.
You should take steps toward your goals when you use the commitment part of ACT. Over time, this can help you think less negatively and get things done better every day.
ACT has been shown to help with a number of mental health problems, such as therapy for anxiety and depression.
ACT about Long-Term Pain and Health Issues
Pain that doesn’t go away can feel unbearable and constant. Instead of letting pain run your life, ACT tells you to notice it and accept it.
This method is different from treatments that try to ease pain. You and your therapist talk about what you believe in and how you want your life to be, even if it hurts.
That change can give you a new drive to do important things. ACT is also used to treat other health problems, like quitting smoking or conditions caused by stress.
And it’s not just about pain. Focusing on acceptance and a meaningful life could improve your mental and physical health. Find out more about acceptance and commitment therapy as a way to help people with long-term health problems.
Using Other Therapies as a Base
ACT has roots in other cognitive and behavioral therapies, but it is its own thing. It can help you choose what’s best for you to know the differences.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy vs. ACT
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and ACT can help you deal with tough feelings and thoughts. But they go in different directions.
The main goal of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is to recognize negative thoughts, question them, and replace them with more realistic ones. It’s all about teaching you how to think logically and deal with stress.
The ACT method doesn’t try to stop bad thoughts. You learn to accept them instead, and you use mindfulness to keep your mind on what’s important and act in line with your values.
CBT seems to be a good choice for people who are anxious, and ACT might help you become more mindful quickly. Both have a lot of proof that they cause depression and stress.
Approaches Based on ACT and Mindfulness
Like Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) and other mindfulness-based therapies, acceptance and mindfulness are important parts of ACT.
You don’t have to judge your thoughts and feelings when you do ACT or MBCT. The main goal of MBCT is to keep people from falling back into depression. It is based on mindfulness meditation.
ACT also teaches mindfulness, but it adds steps for commitment and action. Even when you’re feeling down or anxious, your therapist helps you figure out what you believe in, become more mindful, and take steps toward your goals.
You can deal with stress and stop thinking negatively in both ways. You can read more about ACT and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy in Psych Central’s article on ACT vs. CBT.
The ACT and DBT Methods of Therapy
ACT and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) both help people deal with tough feelings, but they do so in different ways.
Acceptance and change are both important in DBT. You learn how to be mindful, control your emotions, deal with stress, and handle relationships. It’s planned out and usually includes training with a group.
Instead of just controlling symptoms, ACT focuses on acceptance, mindfulness, and doing things that matter. ACT keeps you focused on living by your values, even when things get hard emotionally. DBT teaches practical ways to deal with problems and handle your feelings.
DBT is often used to treat borderline personality disorder and self-harm. ACT, on the other hand, can help with a lot of different emotional and behavioral problems. To learn more, check out Behavior-Behavior.org’s comparison of ACT and DBT.
Being Mindful and Accepting in ACT
Being aware of and accepting things as they are are important skills in ACT. These help you become more aware of your feelings and thoughts and accept them without letting them control you.
Role of Mindfulness
By being mindful in ACT, you pay attention to the present moment. You notice your feelings, thoughts, and the things around you, but you don’t try to change them.
Being aware of this makes it easier to understand what’s going on inside and around you. Being mindful helps you take a step back from feelings and thoughts that are making you stressed.
If you’re mindful, your thoughts are just things that happen. You can find new ways to deal with life’s problems if you don’t judge or fight them.
Mindfulness has been shown to help you make decisions that are in line with your values. ACT practitioners do this all the time because it helps them pause, breathe, and respond instead of reacting without thinking. The Role of Mindfulness in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy has more information on mindfulness in ACT.
Strategies for Acceptance
When you accept your thoughts and feelings, you don’t try to change them or fight them. ACT teaches you how to stop fighting with bad feelings or thoughts that you don’t want to have.
It’s not that you want to push them away; you just accept them as part of being human. This helps a lot when you’re feeling strong emotions like sadness or worry.
It’s not the same to give up and accept something. You still do things, but don’t waste time and energy trying to hide how you really feel.
Name what’s happening or tell yourself, “It’s okay to feel this way.” This can help you feel less stressed and make better decisions based on your values. For more on acceptance in ACT, see ACT Theory: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Explained.
ACT Exercises for Mindfulness
ACT uses easy exercises to help people become more mindful. One is called “Leaves on a Stream,” and it makes you think of your thoughts floating down a river on leaves.
This lets you be aware of your thoughts without getting stuck. One more: “Notice Five Things.” Take a look around and count how many things you can see, touch, hear, etc. It helps you stay in the present and calms your mind.
You can also try mindful breathing. You pay attention to each breath and feel the air coming in and going out. Doing these every day can help you stay in the present and accept what’s going on.
Training, Workshops, and Different Ways to Deliver
There are a lot of different ways to get training in ACT therapy. There are structured workshops, courses that lead to certification, and sessions where you can practice in groups or one-on-one.
Workshops on Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
You can go to ACT workshops in person or online. They last about a day or two and let you learn ACT skills in a fun way.
You could do case studies, role-play with other people, and get feedback as you practice. The six main parts of ACT that trainers usually go over are acceptance, cognitive defusion, being present, self as context, values, and committed action.
Depending on what you need, the workshops range from easy to hard. A lot of them are run by therapists with a lot of experience and follow a step-by-step plan.
Tools with activities and worksheets can be found to use after the event. Check out the ACT on Health resource from Baylor College of Medicine for a full toolkit: ACT on Health: A Toolkit for Delivery of 1-Day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.
ACT in Both Group and One-On-One Situations
ACT can be used in both one-on-one and group therapy. Individual therapy gives you exercises, homework, and practice time during sessions that are specifically designed to meet your needs.
The therapist helps you become more aware of your thoughts, accept your feelings, and be clear about what you believe in by using useful ACT tools. ACT skills are learned and practiced by a group of people.
People who are going through the same things as you can help each other and show you how to do it. During group sessions, people often talk about their values and do mindfulness exercises.
People from ACT groups show up in hospitals, schools, and clinics. Clinicians who want to bring ACT to larger groups or clinics can use strategies for clinic-wide implementation to get the word out about ACT in big settings and clinics.
Training in Acceptance and Commitment
You can learn and use ACT principles in therapy or coaching in a structured way with acceptance and commitment training. You can sign up for weekly programs, short courses, or online classes that you can do at your own pace.
Some trainings are for people who work in mental health, while others are for teachers, coaches, or leaders. The basics of the ACT, core skills, and useful techniques that can be used right away are covered in most courses.
Many programs, like the ones from Russ Harris at Psychwire, help you learn in small steps by giving you video lessons, regular practice, and community discussions.
Certificates or continuing education credits are sometimes given at the end of a course. ACT resources, worksheets, or ongoing support that you can print out or get online make it easier to start using it in your own practice.
Research, Results, and How Well It Works
Researchers have looked at ACT’s effects on a number of mental health problems in a number of different ways. There is evidence that ACT can help reduce symptoms, help people better control their emotions, and make people more mentally flexible.
Studies on ACT
A lot of research has been done on how ACT can help people with anxiety, depression, and substance use disorders. Most of the time, the results show that ACT lowers symptoms and raises life satisfaction overall.
A lot of reviews say that ACT helps people get better at controlling their emotions and being mentally flexible. Still, some studies don’t have enough long-term follow-up or small sample sizes. Other times, they don’t compare ACT to other treatments.
Still, most studies show that ACT can help with a variety of mental health issues, especially when it comes to mental health and functioning. Here is a list of these acceptance and commitment therapy trends.
Controlled Trials that are Random
Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of ACT look at issues like depression, pain, anxiety, and drug use. People think that RCTs are the best way to test therapies.
ACT has been shown to work better than no treatment or standard treatments for a number of conditions. In some RCTs, people who did ACT said they felt a lot less stressed and had better ways to deal with problems.
The effects of ACT have been tested on both clinical and general groups, and the results have always been positive. When ACT is directly compared to other treatments for certain conditions, it is often just as effective, and sometimes even more so. This article, The Empirical Status of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, goes into more detail about what RCTs have shown about ACT.
The Properties of Psychometrics
The ideas behind ACT are acceptance, mindfulness, and acting based on your values. The Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ) is a psychometric tool that researchers use to track outcomes. It measures psychological flexibility and acceptance.
It has been shown that these tools work. They help researchers and therapists see how ACT changes more than just symptoms. They can also see how it changes important things like acceptance and commitment to change.
These steps help keep track of progress and make choices about ongoing care. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Model, Processes, and Outcomes is a review that goes into more detail about these ACT processes and how to measure their results.
Where ACT Is Going Next
As new research comes out with new ways to use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), it is always changing. Digital tools will be used by more people and in more situations. They will also create new ways for people to change and be more psychologically flexible.
Brand-New Applications
ACT was first used to help people with anxiety and depression, but now it’s used for a lot of different things. ACT is now used to treat chronic pain and drug abuse and to help people deal with long-term illnesses.
When things get tough, people turn to ACT to focus on taking action and accepting things as they are. ACT has been shown to help people who are dealing with trauma, sleep issues, eating disorders, and many other issues.
Scientists are even using ACT to help people do better at work and in school. The skills taught in ACT can help with both stress and motivation. Combining ACT with other therapies makes it a useful tool for a wide range of problems.
ACT with New Groups of People
ACT now works with people of all ages and walks of life. People of all cultures, including kids, teens, and adults, are getting better.
ACT, for instance, helps kids deal with behavior issues and gives students tools for emotional health. Researchers have also found that ACT helps people with disabilities and neurodiversity by helping them accept themselves and be loose in their thinking.
Teams keep working to make ACT easier for people in different communities to use and get the most out of. More information about these efforts can be found in articles about ACT’s basic ideas and its progress.
ACT Interventions that are Digital and Online
A lot of people now use ACT with websites, apps, or telehealth. You can stay up to date on ACT at home or while you’re out and about with digital tools.
These programs usually have guided lessons, exercises for mindfulness, and help with sticking to your goals. Online ACT is especially helpful for people who live in remote areas or have very busy schedules.
A lot of interventions come with tools for keeping track of your progress, reminders, and ways to see how your behavior and commitment change over time. As technology changes, new features appear that make it more fun to use and give you more ways to improve your mental flexibility.
New studies show that digital ACT could help with a number of mental health problems. If you’re interested, look into how to measure ACT in various settings.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can read about how ACT therapy works, the skills you’ll learn, and how it’s different from other types of therapy here. What can you expect from sessions? These answers may help. They may also show you how to learn or use ACT techniques on your own.
What are some of the most important techniques used in ACT?
ACT uses exercises in mindfulness, figuring out what you value, and confusing your thoughts. There will also be lessons on how to accept hard thoughts and feelings without letting them take over.
The real goal? Make sure you live a life that fits with what’s important to you.
In what ways does the ACT model allow for psychological flexibility?
Being psychologically flexible means that you keep your mind on what’s important and are open to new experiences, even if they are hard. You practice accepting things as they are, being mindful, and sticking to actions that are in line with your values in ACT.
You can handle life’s surprises better (most of the time) if you have these skills.
In acceptance and commitment therapy, what kinds of exercises are used most of the time?
A lot of the time, you’ll breathe mindfully, pay attention to your thoughts without judging them, and notice how your feelings change over time. You could write about your values or work on taking a step back from thoughts that aren’t helpful every so often.
All of these things make you more aware and help you stay in the present.
Could you describe the six main ACT processes and what they mean in therapy?
Being present, accepting what is, seeing oneself as context, having values, and taking committed action are the six core processes. In different ways, they teach you different skills, like how to stop fighting your thoughts, be present in the moment, see yourself in a bigger picture, and figure out what you care about and then do something about it.
They work together to make psychological flexibility possible.
What resources are out there for professionals who want to learn more about ACT therapy worksheets?
Professional organizations and training websites have ACT worksheets and other resources that you can use. A lot of books and guides come with exercises that are already done.
Even more help and real-life examples of therapy can be found in online communities and workshops.
In what ways does ACT differ from other cognitive-behavioral therapies?
ACT is different from other cognitive-behavioral therapies because it focuses on accepting negative thoughts instead of trying to change or fight them.
This way of thinking pushes you to make decisions that are in line with your values, even if you are having tough feelings or thoughts.
ACT is different from some other therapies because it focuses on being mindful and accepting things as they are. That changes things a lot.
