What is ACT?
Quick answer: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT, pronounced “act”) is a third-wave behavioral therapy that uses mindfulness skills to develop psychological flexibility and clarify values-guided behavior. Rather than trying to fix or eliminate unwanted thoughts and feelings, ACT helps you build a new, mindful relationship with them so you’re free to act on what matters to you.
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is a third-wave behavioral therapy—alongside DBT and MBCT—that doesn’t see clients as damaged or flawed, and doesn’t label unwanted experiences as “symptoms” or “problems.” Instead, it looks at the function and context of behavior to determine its “workability” for creating a rich and meaningful life. Here’s how it works.
What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
ACT is a directive, experiential form of therapy based on Relational Frame Theory (RFT), a scientific theory of human language and cognition.
RFT emerges from the philosophy of Functional Contextualism—as opposed to mechanistic models that aim to repair, change, or fix “problems.” In ACT, behavior encompasses both private and public activity: actions, thoughts, memories, emotions, and sensations. The aim of ACT is to experience the fullness and vitality of life, which includes a wide spectrum of human experience—including the pain that inevitably goes with it. Unlike CBT, ACT does not attempt to directly change or stop unwanted thoughts or feelings; it develops a new mindful relationship with those experiences that frees you up to take action consistent with your chosen values.
What are the six core processes of ACT?
Psychological flexibility—the main goal of ACT—is created through six overlapping, interconnected processes: contact with the present moment, self-as-context, defusion, acceptance, values, and committed action.
All six processes are introduced and developed experientially over the course of treatment. Psychological flexibility can be defined simply as “the ability to be present, open up, and do what matters.”
What does “be present” mean in ACT?
Being present means being in direct contact with the present moment rather than drifting into automatic pilot, and getting in touch with the observing self—the part that is aware of, but separate from, the thinking self.
Mindfulness techniques are taught so you can experience the observing self firsthand, whether by bringing awareness to each of the five senses, to thoughts, or to emotions. These are the same skills at the core of mindfulness-based therapy.
What does “open up” mean in ACT?
Opening up is the ability to detach from thoughts (defusion) and to accept—make space for and drop the struggle with—painful feelings, urges, and sensations.
Acceptance, which is not the same as approval, means allowing what is to be as it is instead of fighting or avoiding it. If someone is thinking, “I’m a terrible person,” they might be instructed to say, “I am having the thought that I’m a terrible person.” That simple shift separates the person from the cognition and strips it of its negative charge. When painful emotions like anxiety show up, you might practice breathing into and making space for the physical experience—allowing it to remain just as it is. Attempting to eliminate anxiety has the paradoxical effect of making it much worse, which is why this approach is often used in anxiety counseling.
What does “do what matters” mean in ACT?
Doing what matters is about values clarification—knowing what matters to you personally and taking effective action guided by those values.
Various exercises help identify your chosen values, which act like a compass for directing intentional, effective behavior. People who are fused with their thoughts, or who struggle with and avoid painful emotions, often struggle to choose purposeful, values-guided action. Through mindful liberation from that struggle, acting congruently with your values becomes quite natural and fulfilling.
ACT in a nutshell: be present, open up, do what matters
ACT builds psychological flexibility through six interconnected processes so you can live a rich, meaningful life—not by eliminating pain, but by changing your relationship with it and committing to what you value.
Getting started. If you’d like to explore ACT or other mindfulness-based approaches, our individual adult counseling team in Austin can help.
Frequently asked questions
How is ACT different from CBT?
CBT works to directly change or stop unwanted thoughts and feelings. ACT instead develops a new mindful relationship with those experiences, freeing you to act in line with your values without needing the thoughts to change first.
Is acceptance the same as approval?
No. In ACT, acceptance means allowing what is to be as it is—without evaluation or attempts to change it—rather than approving of it. It’s a skill developed through mindfulness exercises in and out of session.
What is psychological flexibility?
Psychological flexibility is the main goal of ACT, defined simply as “the ability to be present, open up, and do what matters.” It’s built through six core processes developed experientially over treatment.
Get started with a therapist at Austin Mindfulness Center—in person in Austin or online across Texas.
