Values are guiding principles that give life meaning and direction. Working with values forms a core aspect of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).
Offers theory, guidance, and prompts for mental health professionals. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
Includes client-friendly guidance. Downloads are in Fillable PDF format where appropriate.
An editable Microsoft PowerPoint version of the resource.
Explore personal values across multiple life domains with this structured resource. It helps clients to identify values in key life areas and encourages living in alignment with them. The worksheet assists in evaluating values across categories including family, relationships, and personal growth, promoting a values-driven life.
Values exploration is helpful across many therapeutic settings. It can:
Enhancing motivation and activity through values exploration.
Addressing avoidance by aligning actions with values.
Assisting clients in navigating changes with a values-based roadmap.
Supporting clients in achieving a fulfilling life.
Use exercises to help clients identify core values across various life domains.
Encourage clients to rate the importance of each value.
Discuss how clients can align their daily actions with identified values.
Facilitate reflection on recent alignment with these values.
Develop action plans to live more consistently with identified values.
Values are central to many therapeutic models, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) offer perhaps the most comprehensive and theoretically grounded approach. In ACT, values are defined as “desired global qualities of ongoing action” (Hayes et al., 2006), which function like a compass — offering direction, sustaining motivation, and helping people reconnect with what matters most, especially during challenging times.
Values are not synonymous with goals, commandments, or static ideals. Instead, they are chosen qualities of being and doing — “principles for living” that people freely choose and embody through ongoing patterns of action (Harris, 2019; Wilson & Dufrene, 2009). ACT emphasizes that values must be enacted rather than merely identified, and their power lies in their ability to coordinate action across contexts, promote meaning, and inspire committed behavior.
ACT also warns against treating values work as a standalone or magical fix. Rather, its effectiveness depends on its integration with other core ACT processes, including acceptance, cognitive defusion, and present-moment awareness. As Hayes and colleagues (2012) state, “it is only within the context of values that action, acceptance, and defusion come together into a sensible whole.”
