Acceptance and commitment therapy and its foundational ideas

A Quick Guide

Acceptance and commitment therapy is a therapeutic approach that derives its ideas from cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). It utilizes cognitive, behavioral, and mindfulness strategies to help a person live their life in line with their values. It aims to reduce experiential avoidance and develop psychological flexibility by accepting thoughts and feelings, identifying values, and taking action aligned with those values. ACT emphasizes acceptance of life experiences and defusion from negative thoughts, enabling individuals to live more meaningful lives.

Experiential avoidance

Human beings have a tendency to avoid experiences that are negative. In other words, sometimes they are unwilling to experience negative thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations due to their challenging nature. Likewise, they continue to delay, avoid, stop and not start things that matter to them. Even though they can engage in alternative thoughts, feelings and behaviors, avoidance seems like a more instinctual reaction. If you think of your own life, you may have avoided delayed or stopped doing things that were important to you. For example, giving up on a healthy lifestyle such as diet or exercise, not organizing your house, not putting in effort in developing meaningful relationship, not taking the risk of applying for a job that matter to you, etc.

Acceptance and commitment therapy plays an important role here. It helps a person to reduce avoidance and be more action-oriented. Similarly, it assists one to evaluate their emotions and thoughts and face them. For example, psychological problems like alcohol abuse and dissociation are extreme forms of emotional avoidance that can be addressed using the principles of ACT.

Developing openness or psychological flexibility

A core idea of acceptance and commitment therapy is to inculcate an attitude of psychological flexibility in an individual. It refers to a person’s openness to different experiences either good or bad. Additionally, taking action for things that are in line with their values. In other words, the barriers of negative thoughts and feelings are removed. The six core processes of psychological flexibility are:

• Values: identifying what’s important about your life and taking action in line with it. For example, being a caring mother.
• Committed action: taking action consistently in line with personal values.
• Acceptance: being open and accepting of both positive and negative experiences.
• Diffusion: being aware of one’s thoughts and processes without trying to change or control them.
• Being mindful: Staying and connecting with the present moment.
• Connecting with the self: developing the connection with one’s real self beyond the thoughts and feelings.

Acceptance in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

As the name suggests, acceptance and commitment therapy helps a person to accept life experiences as they are including one’s thoughts and feelings. Instead of trying to change or alter them directly, one focuses on changing how one relates to these events. Especially since in a lot of situations, human beings have low control and avoiding thoughts may not be productive. Thus, the best option is to openly accept things one cannot change since it liberates/frees a person. One is able to do things that are important rather than always trying to control or avoid the uncontrollable.

Defusion in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy

Thought defusion is a process in which the person disengages or distances oneself from their thoughts. This reduces their believability, especially since being aware of your thought process helps a person to no longer be stuck in them. So, ACT plays an important role in helping the person be more aware of the language of their negative thoughts and cultivating an attitude of acceptance. Such that their negative effect on daily life is reduced.

The three steps of acceptance and commitment therapy

ACT is an experiential therapy with three basic steps:

1. Accept your thoughts, feelings, and bodily sensations if you are unable to control them.
2. Identify your life values and put your energy into defining how you want to live and what’s important to you. Rather than wasting time avoiding things that are not in your control.
3. Take action and behave in line with your values. You may begin with something small and gradually build on these actions. For example, if your aim is to adopt a healthy lifestyle, you may begin with portion control and move on to clean eating with time. Gradually you may introduce healthy food substitutes into your daily life. Similarly, you may even begin going out for a walk which can turn into a jog, and eventually weightlifting at the gym. Thus, helping you live a more healthy life that is meaningful for you.

We hope the above article was useful for you in briefly understanding the foundation of acceptance and commitment therapy.