Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a type of psychotherapy that emphasizes acceptance as a way to cope with negative thoughts, feelings, symptoms, or circumstances. It also encourages increased commitment to healthy, constructive activities that are in congruence with a person’s values or goals.

ACT focuses on increasing psychological flexibility and avoiding impulsive actions. This approach carries a host of benefits, and it may help people stop avoiding certain thoughts or emotional experiences. ACT teaches people to recognize that certain strong emotions are appropriate in some situations but should not stop them from moving forward in their life.

The goal of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is to reduce a person’s struggle to control or avoid upsetting internal experiences while simultaneously increasing a person’s involvement in meaningful life activities aligned with their personal values.

The process of ACT includes several components such as acceptance of inner thoughts, cognitive defusion to recognize thoughts as just thoughts, self as context, being present, values, and commitment.