Acceptance and Commitment Therapy
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based therapy that helps individuals increase psychological flexibility by gently observing thoughts and feelings rather than avoiding them. ACT focuses on living a meaningful life in line with your values and moving towards them, even in the face of challenges.
Firstly, by understanding your current level of psychological flexibility and main difficulties, ACT will develop a clear goal and action plan for helping you make changes despite difficult thoughts and emotions. Learning about your strengths and identifying your individual values (not to be mistaken with corporate values!) will help you to know what you need to work towards for a meaningful life.
Through ACT, you’ll learn strategies to embrace your emotions, develop mindfulness skills, and engage in behaviours that align with what truly matters to you. This therapy encourages you to be present in the moment and make choices that support your long-term well-being, rather than being controlled by distressing thoughts or past experiences. ACT will support cognitive defusion, the oppose of cognitive fusion or the over-attachment to thoughts, by helping you step back and take an observer perspective of your mind. Stepping away from thoughts can help us make better decisions as we don't get caught in rumination or stuck on autopilot.
ACT is effective for a wide range of issues, including anxiety, depression, stress, and chronic pain. It’s particularly useful for individuals who find themselves stuck in unhelpful patterns of avoidance or struggling to move forward due to emotional discomfort.
ACT provides a unique approach to therapy that emphasises action and acceptance, empowering you to live a fuller, more engaged life.
Evidence Behind the Therapy
Steven C. Hayes, the founder of ACT, says: “The central idea of ACT is not to get rid of difficult feelings, but to be able to make room for them, accept them, and take meaningful action.”
According to a study by Öst (2014), “ACT has been shown to be as effective, if not more so, than traditional therapies for a wide range of mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD.”
Research by Twohig et al. (2010) highlights that “ACT helps individuals build a more accepting relationship with their thoughts and feelings, leading to greater psychological flexibility and improvements in quality of life.”
