What is a Therapeutic Approach Anyway? Understanding ACT

Let’s talk about Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)! Similarly to DBT, ACT (pronounced “act”) takes aspects of CBT and adds its own unique, therapeutic twist. ACT focuses on a client’s individual beliefs and values, and whether or not they are living their life in a way that is consistent with those values.

ACT works by building client awareness of their presenting concern (what they came to therapy for) and how that concern is maintained. Specifically, ACT wants to determine if the client is actively avoiding whatever that concern may be.

For example, maybe a client lives in a social or cultural context that teaches them that having anxiety is bad. Because the client is currently suffering from anxiety, and anxiety = bad, then the client views themselves and their feelings of anxiety as bad. An ACT therapist will teach the client to accept that their anxiety is appropriate, not bad and should not be avoided.

Further, ACT wants to build skills of openness and acceptance of uncomfortable or difficult thoughts and feelings. Once this happens, they are encouraged to lean into or be with those thoughts openly and fully.

A therapist utilizing ACT with a client will help their client build self-awareness, practice self-control and self-acceptance, and learn mindfulness skills.

ACT shares common ground with experiential therapies in that experiences and feelings are accepted and valued. Next week we will dive deeper into what experiential therapy is!