HomeFAQs What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
What is Acceptance and Commitment Therapy?
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy ACT said as one word, not the letters) is a new cognitive-behavior therapy that has gained increasing
attention in recent years. ACT emphasizes such processes as
mindfulness, acceptance, and values in helping clients overcome obstacles in their
lives. A basic assumption of ACT is that suffering is a normal and
unavoidable part of human experience and that it is
actually people's attempts to control or avoid their own
painful experiences that leads to much long-term suffering and what
doesn't work in people's lives. ACT helps people learn ways to let go
of the struggle with pain, be more mindful, get clarity on what really
matters to them, and to commit to living full, vibrant lives. The goal of therapy is not to
eliminate certain parts of one's experience of life, but rather to
learn how to experience life more fully, without as much struggle, and
with vitality and commitment.
ACT is considered an empirical psychotherapy in that its practitioners and researchers are dedicated to the development
of science and empirical evaluation of its effects. ACT has, as of May 2006, been evaluated in over
24 randomized clinical trials for
a variety of client problems. ACT has also been adapted to create a
non-therapy version of the same processes called Acceptance and
Commitment Training. This training process, oriented toward the
development of mindfulness, acceptance, and values skills in
nonclinical settings, such as businesses or schools, has also been
investigated in a handful of research studies with good preliminary
results.
ACT is based on a behavior analytic account of language and cognition called Relational Frame Theory (RFT).
RFT now has over 80 studies supporting its basic tenets and has been researched for over two decades. RFT holds
that while language has been key in allowing us to dominate the planet
and create amazing levels of wealth and security, it also has a dark
side. Basic properties of language seem to lie behind much of the
suffering that humans experience. ACT, the applied technology resulting
from RFT, attempts to help people circumvent language in those areas of
life where it is less helpful, and strengthen the most useful aspects
of language in the domains where it tends to be most helpful.
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