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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is one of the ‘third wave’ cognitive and behavioral therapies. It incorporates acceptance and mindfulness strategies alongside change strategies, in recognition that change is not always possible or desirable. ACT is theoretically derived from relational frame theory (RFT) which is a behavior analytic account of the functional properties of human language. The ACT approach proposes that suffering and dysfunction arise from attempts to control or eliminate unwanted experiences. Attempts to control or avoid can lead to the paradoxical effect of greater suffering and a perception of loss of control of the focus for elimination. The aim of ACT is to increase psychological flexibility, which is defined as “contacting the present moment fully as a conscious human being, and based on what the situation affords, changing or persisting in behavior in the service of chosen values” (Hayes, Luoma, Bond, Masuda, & Lillis, 2006). Read more

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14 of 14 resources

A Guide To Emotions (Psychology Tools For Living Well)

Case Conceptualization / Case Formulation

ACT case formulation sheet | David Gillanders download archived copy
Outline of ACT assessment / case formulation process download archived copy
ACT case formulation template adapted for clients with visible differences download archived copy
The brief case conceptualization worksheet download archived copy
Person-in-the-hole metahphor download
Passengers-on-the-bus metaphor download
Sailing boat metaphor download from David Gillanders page of contextualscience.org

Intervention

Treatment guides

ACT in the treatment of chronic pain | JoAnn Dahl & Thomas Lundgren download archived copy
ACT for chronic pain | Lance McCracken download archived copy
ACT for diabetes self-management | Gregg, Hayes & Callaghan download archive.org
ACT for OCD | Michael Twohig download archived copy
Mindfulness and acceptance-based group therapy for social anxiety disorder download archived copy

Information handouts

ACT handouts | Russ Harris download archived copy

Exercises, Worksheets & Workbooks

Worksheets from the Happiness Trap including Values, Defusion, and Experiential Avoidance exercises download
6 ACT conversations is a six-session e-learning program from RMIT University Link to 6 ACT conversations
Pre-empting your mind | Russ Harris download archived copy

Presentations

Session with IMPACT | Russ Harris (2014) download archived copy
Advanced ACT workshop | Russ Harris (2017) download archived copy

Videos

Animation: Demons on the Boat metaphor – which outlines how an alternative, more accepting stance towards difficult thoughts, emotions or sensations can facilitate action towards values YouTube
Animation: Unwelcome Party Guest metaphor – similar to the Demons on the Boat metaphor, but highlights the cost (in terms of lack valued action) of avoidance of negative or unwanted emotions YouTube

What Is Acceptance And Commitment Therapy?

ACT Processes

Luoma, Hayes, and Walser (2007) describe some of the assumptions made by the ACT approach:

Acceptance is the active and aware embrace of private events that are occasioned by our history, without unnecessary attempts to change their frequency or form, especially when doing so would cause psychological harm.
Defusion is theprocess of creating non-literal contexts in which language can be seen as an active, ongoing, and relational process that is historical in nature and present in the current context.
Self-as-context is a continuous and secure ‘I’ from which events are experienced, but which is also distinct from those events.
Contact with the present moment is an ongoing, nonjudgmental contact with psychological and environmental events as they occur.
Values are verbally constructed, global, desired, and chosen life directions.Values are what truly matter to us and are distinct from goals in that they cannot be ‘achieved’ butrather ‘moved toward or away from.’
Committed action is the step-by-step process of acting to create a whole life, one of integrity, which is true to one’s deepest wishes and longings.

References

Hayes, S. C., Luoma, J. B., Bond, F. W., Masuda, A., & Lillis, J. (2006). Acceptance and commitment therapy: Model, processes and outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 44(1), 1–25.
Luoma, J. B., Hayes, S. C., & Walser, R. D. (2007). Learning ACT: An acceptance & commitment therapy skills-training manual for therapists. Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

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Therapy tool

A Guide To Emotions (Psychology Tools For Living Well)

Being With Difficulty (Audio)

Body Scan (Audio)

Developing Psychological Flexibility

How Does Emotion Affect Your Life?

Mindful Attention (Audio)

Mindfulness In Everyday Life (Audio)

Mindfulness Of Breath (Long Version) (Audio)

Mindfulness Of Breath (Short Version) (Audio)

Mindfulness Of Sounds And Thoughts (Audio)

Raisin Exercise (Audio)

Thinking Versus Sensing (Audio)

Values

What Is Mindfulness?