Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) was created by Steven Hayes and is known as one of the ‘third wave’ CBT therapies. It includes mindfulness which can be defined a being fully in the present moment. It is an incredibly useful skill to learn that can help in so many ways.
The acceptance is about learning to live with your emotions rather than trying to fight them off or ignoring them which never works! Accepting your feelings doesn’t mean just putting up with things but learning to live in line with your values.
In ACT, our main interest in a thought is not whether it’s true or false, but whether it’s helpful; that is, if we pay attention to this thought, will it help us create the life we want?
Russ Harris
Values are a central part of ACT so we can look at identifying them so that all the action you take as you change and move forward is in line with them. This is the commitment part – taking committed action towards goals that fit well with your identified values.
I am a big fan of ACT as it sits well with my view that there is nothing wrong with you (or any of us) but that we may need help and support to live our lives in the way that is best and most healthy for us. Personally, my other important values, are being genuine and wanting to make a difference.
This post is one in a series I’ve wrtten on key counselling therapies. Other posts in the series include Person Centred, CBT and Psychodynamic. Together these make up the set of therapies I tend to use over the course of the counselling relationship.