Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Let's move from suffering to engaging with life. Instead of waiting to win our internal struggle within ourselves, we can work at beginning to live our life now. How about fully embracing life, choosing to live it to the fullest.

What is Acceptance & Commitment Therapy?

In a nutshell, ACT encourages a different relationship with our thoughts, emotions, urges, and memories. Instead of getting caught up in them as if they're strict rules, we learn to step back and let them be without getting stuck. This shift is crucial because our minds don't always act in our best interest. They try to solve our inner struggles, much like fixing an external problem like a broken engine, a sink, or mending clothes.

Sadly, our inner workings don't operate the same way. The more we try to control, overthink, avoid, or fight, the more these issues persist. For example, the more we fret about not sleeping, the worse our anxiety becomes. Similarly, the more we dwell on past mistakes, the deeper our depression grows.

Imagine if you're trying to reach point B from point A, and you won't be content until you get there. But what if point B is hard to reach, especially when dealing with inner struggles? Would you remain unhappy until you reach point B, even if it never comes?

Instead, ACT teaches us to create space for challenging emotions and let go of negative and unhelpful thoughts and memories. We do this to pursue goals that align with our values and lead to the fulfilling life we desire. It encourages us to ask, "What truly matters deep in our hearts?"

Meet Chris

Why would someone see an Acceptance and Commitment therapist?

This approach is designed to address a wide range of issues, including anxiety, depression, grief, trauma, eating disorders, addiction, and anyone seeking an improved quality of life. In ACT, the primary goal is not solely to eliminate psychological pain, although that is often the outcome. The true objective is to shift our focus from attempting to control, avoid, or eliminate such pain. The more we fixate on getting rid of it, the more it persists. This is where we can begin to release the tug-of-war rope and disengage from our suffering.

What does an ACT therapy session look like?

ACT sessions generally encompass six key components:

1. Defusion: Initially, you'll learn to detach from your thoughts, shifting from being ensnared by them to observing them. This change in perspective empowers you to question the worthiness of your thoughts and their alignment with your path. Building familiarity with this approach requires practice both in the session and at home.

2. Acceptance: Acceptance involves allowing your internal experiences, especially emotions, to exist without resistance. This isn't about deeming these emotions right or good; rather, it's a choice to follow a different path. For instance, if you battle anxiety during social events, you'll practice techniques like physicalizing to create space for that emotion, enabling you to act according to your desire, like being social.

3. Present-Moment Awareness: When we're lost in our thoughts and emotions, we're not fully present. This leaves us susceptible to unnecessary distractions in our minds. For example, during quality time with your children, if work-related thoughts intrude, you lose the moment and potentially feel upset.

4. Self-as-Context (Pure Awareness): This component encourages a separation between you and your internal experiences, emphasizing that you are not your thoughts or emotions. Instead, they are aspects of you to be observed, like graffiti on a wall. An analogy often used is to imagine you are the sky and your thoughts, emotions, urges, beliefs are passing clouds. Sometimes these clouds can be like rain clouds blocking the sky, but the sky remains constant. This practice helps loosen your attachment to self-conceptions and other beliefs.

5. Values and Committed Action: The previous components serve a purpose – to enable you to live a fulfilling life. You connect with your values and committed action. This means choosing to follow your values in the present moment rather than succumbing to the whims of your mind. It involves setting goals based on your values and pursuing them instead of allowing avoidant, critical, or fearful thoughts to dictate your direction.

In summary, your initial ACT session will introduce you to these components, each designed to help you change your relationship with your thoughts and emotions, be more present, and align your actions with your values for a more fulfilling life

How does ACT therapy work?

The ACT recommendation to release the struggle with our thoughts and feelings is rooted in research from Relational Framing Theory (RFT). This research highlights that much of our psychological distress originates from the way our minds form connections through 'relational frames.' Often, we link events or elements without a logical connection. While learning from past experiences is valuable, our minds can form unnecessary associations that hinder logical thinking. For example, we might associate job search difficulties with past teachers or compare our self-worth to others in our community.

Certainly, here are real-life examples within a therapeutic context for the three primary frames of Relational Framing Theory (RFT):

1. Mutual Entailment:

Relaxation Techniques: An individual may attend therapy and learn that practicing deep breathing exercises (A) helps reduce their anxiety (B). Over time, they naturally associate deep breathing (A) with anxiety reduction (B), and anxiety reduction (B) with deep breathing (A). This understanding

empowers them to use deep breathing as a coping mechanism when anxiety arises.

2. Combinatorial Entailment: Emotion recognition In therapy, a client might learn that "fear" (A) is another word for "anxiety" (B), and that "nervous" (C) is another word for "anxiety" (B). As a result, they can easily connect "fear" (A) and "nervous" (C) without explicit instruction. This knowledge can enhance their emotional awareness and communication in therapy, as they recognize different words for the same emotion.

3. Transformation of Functions: Trust in the Therapeutic Relationship A client associates attending therapy sessions (A) with a supportive and trustworthy therapist (B). However, if they have an interaction where the therapist appears dismissive or uninterested (C), the relationship between attending therapy (A) and their perception of the therapist may change. This transformation can affect the client's willingness to engage in therapy and their overall therapeutic experience.

These real-life examples demonstrate how the principles of RFT can apply within a therapeutic context, influencing how clients relate to thoughts, emotions, and experiences.

These frames are intrinsic to human thinking and have facilitated numerous achievements. However, they also make it easy for individuals to link past experiences with current or future events, which may not always serve them well.

In the context of ACT, battling to control or avoid these thoughts and feelings is an uphill battle. Our minds naturally seek solutions by forming connections, but latching onto every thought leaves us vulnerable.

ACT encourages us to let these negative thoughts come and go, and instead we aim to focus on those that lead us in a positive direction.

Research

For ACT, there are 100’s of published peer reviewed articles supporting its principles. Here is a link to a meta-analysis supporting its use for various issues.

https://contextualscience.org/metaanalyses_and_systematic_scoping_or_na…

As well, here is a list of random control studies conducted on ACT from 1986 to present.

https://contextualscience.org/act_randomized_controlled_trials_1986_to_present

Who developed the protocol for ACT?

Steven C. Hayes is the creator of ACT.

What Can Acceptance & Commitment Therapy Help With?

Engages in exercises to establish a healthy connection with thoughts, feelings, memories, and physical sensations previously feared and avoided
Lets go of the struggle with suffering, allowing presence on the path towards personal growth
Transforms the relationship with thoughts and feelings, reducing their control over actions
Develops techniques for accepting unwanted emotions like anxiety and depression, rather than futilely resisting them
Sets goals aligned with core values, leading to a fulfilled life, even amidst struggles
Cultivates flexibility in moments of difficulty, rather than rigid resistance