Let Your Goals & Values Be The Guide…Let Your Thoughts & Feelings Come Along For The Ride

ACT

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy

Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a form of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). It represents a newer approach that builds upon traditional CBT techniques and is considered a part of the “third wave” of CBT, which includes other therapies such as Mindfulness-Based interventions, Compassion-Focused Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.

One key distinction with traditional CBT is the shift in focus from the content of thoughts and behaviors to the ways in which people respond or relate to their inner experiences.

According to ACT, attempts to avoid, suppress, resist or fight against difficult internal experiences such as thoughts, emotions, urges, memories, & sensations have a negative impact on a person’s emotional and psychological well-being. In fact, avoidance of difficult thoughts and feelings has been linked to various negative outcomes, including higher anxiety and depression, and lower quality of life.

The goal of ACT is therefore to learn skills to handle difficult thoughts and emotions more effectively to lessen their negative impact. ACT aims to promote psychological flexibility – the ability to be present with difficult thoughts & feelings with compassion and without judgment, while choosing to align your behaviors with the goals & values that are important to you, in the service of moving towards a life that is rich, meaningful, & fulfilling.

Psychological flexibility involves the following components:

  • Acceptance – the willingness to experience difficult thoughts & feelings
  • Cognitive defusion – the practice of observing difficult internal experiences in a way that helps to create distance from them
  • Being present – by focusing on the here and now
  • Self-as-context – observing/noticing thoughts
  • Values – discovering & identifying what is important to you
  • Committed action – taking action towards your values

Examples of strategies that are used to promote psychological flexibility:

  • Noticing & naming internal experiences
  • Mindfulness practices
  • Grounding exercises
  • Value-driven goal setting
  • Perspective shifting
  • Compassion practices
  • Value-driven exposures
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West Toronto CBT is a psychology practice that delivers evidence-based psychological treatments – Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT) – to address mood and anxiety-related difficulties, including depression, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Social Anxiety, Health Anxiety, Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia, Insomnia, Grief/Loss and more.