Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, ACT (pronounced "act" not "ay see tee"), is a unique empirically based psychological intervention that uses acceptance and mindfulness strategies, together with commitment and behavior change strategies, to increase psychological flexibility.^*

ACT is based on a pragmatic philosophy called functional contextualism. ACT is based on mindfulness and Relational Frame Theory (RFT), a theory of language and cognition that is a branch of behavior analysis. ACT differs from traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) in that rather than trying to teach people to better control their thoughts, feelings, sensations, memories and other private events, ACT focuses on what they can control more directly: their arms, legs and mouth. ACT teaches them to "just notice", accept, and embrace their private events, especially previously unwanted ones. ACT helps the individual get in contact with a transcendent sense of self known as "self-as-context"--the you that is always there observing and experiencing and yet distinct from one's thoughts, feelings, sensations, and memories. ACT helps the individual to clarify their personal values and to take action on them, bringing more vitality and meaning to their life in the process.

The ACT algorithm is:

• Accept your reactions and be present
• Choose a valued direction
• Take action

ACT is sometimes grouped together with dialectical behavior therapy and mindfulness based cognitive therapy as The Third Wave of Behavior Therapy.

ACT is considered an empirical psychotherapy, its practitioners and researchers are dedicated to the development of science and empirical evaluation of its effects. ACT has, as of February 2006, been evaluated in over 20 randomized clinical trials for a variety of client problems. ACT has also been adapted to create a non-therapy version of the same processes called Acceptance and Commitment Training. This training process, oriented towards the development of mindfulness, acceptance, and values skills in non-clinical settings such as businesses or schools, has also been investigated in a handful of research studies with good preliminary results.

As of 2006, ACT is still relatively new in the development of its research base. Nevertheless, ACT has shown preliminary research evidence^* of effectiveness for a variety of problems including chronic pain, addictions, smoking cessation, depression, anxiety, psychosis, workplace stress, diabetes management.

References

See also

• Contextualism
• Cognitive behavior therapy

External links

• Contextualpsychology.org - Home for the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science, a professional organization dedicated to ACT. Also helpful for training opportunities for professionals interested in ACT.

• Steven C Hayes - One of ACT's main theorists, Dr.Hayes' University of Nevada homepage
• Jason Luoma, Ph.D. - Resources for ACT therapists.

Psychotherapy