Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

ACT gets its name from its core ideas of accepting what is outside of your personal control and committing to action that improves and enriches your life. ACT seeks to help clients transform their ‘relationship’ with difficult thoughts and emotions.

 

One of the central concepts of ACT is that many of the issues that clients present with in counselling are caused by the avoidance of internal experiences (i.e., thoughts or feelings) that are distressing or uncomfortable. For example, people often find that the process of trying to suppress unwanted thoughts only makes these thoughts more powerful.

 

ACT practitioners do not seek to eliminate or change a client’s thoughts or emotions, but instead seek to help the client view these thoughts and emotions for what they are – pieces of language and transient psychological events, not external “truths”.

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ACT practitioners use a number of mindfulness and acceptance-based strategies as well as cognitive behavioural techniques. Ultimately, ACT interventions tend to focus around two main overarching goals:

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1. Help clients to clarify what’s truly important and meaningful to them (i.e., values) and use those to guide, inspire, and motivate clients to do things that will enrich and enhance their lives.

 

2. Teach clients skills that enable them to handle difficult thoughts and feelings effectively, so they can be fully engaged in what they’re doing, and appreciate the fulfilling aspects of life.