Let’s face it—life isn’t sunshine and rainbows all the time. It’s filled with ups and downs, challenges, chaos, and messiness along the way. And our thoughts can experience this ebb and flow. There are a lot of different coping mechanisms and therapy approaches that help us avoid, fix, or fight our internal thoughts and feelings. If only there were a way to stop the internal conflict with your mind and be able to live life fully.
This is where acceptance and commitment therapy, or ACT, comes in. ACT is a type of therapy that helps you accept what you aren’t able to control and take action toward the things that matter most to you. It has nothing to do with positive thinking or getting rid of the negative thoughts you’re experiencing. Instead, it’s all about learning how to better live with them.
What Is ACT?
ACT is a type of therapy that helps you develop psychological flexibility through both the positive and negative emotions and thoughts to live a fuller and more meaningful life. Psychological flexibility allows you to live in the present moment, feel better equipped to handle uncomfortable situations and events, and move toward the life you hope to live.
The Six Core Tools
ACT helps you with six core tools. Each of these skills can help you strengthen your psychological flexibility, making you more resilient.
1. Acceptance
Acceptance is the ability to live with the tough emotions and thoughts that you’re experiencing. This means not pushing them away, dismissing them, or pretending that they don’t exist.
2. Cognitive Defusion
Cognitive defusion involves identifying your thoughts as words or stories rather than absolute truths that you have to believe, follow, or obey. This skill can lessen the negative impacts of certain thoughts.
3. Being Present
Being present is being able to live in the here and now and stay grounded. Developing this skill makes it easier to avoid living in the past or worrying about events in the future that haven’t even occurred yet.
4. Self as Context
You’re much more than your feelings or thoughts. Self as context is seeing the real you behind all of that.
5. Values
Your values help you determine the things that really matter to you. They can help in figuring out what person you want to be and what kind of life you want to live.
6. Committed Action
Committed actions are those small but meaningful steps that you take to stay accountable to your values and beliefs, even when those steps may be uncomfortable or scary.
The Benefits
ACT is extremely beneficial for a wide variety of mental health conditions. Below are some of the conditions this type of therapy can be especially effective in treating:
- Addiction
- Anxiety
- Burnout
- Chronic pain
- Depression
- Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- Stress
- Trauma
ACT vs. Traditional Forms of Therapy
ACT differs from other forms of therapy because its main focus isn’t about fixing you or changing your feelings and thoughts to make you better. It works to help you change how you relate to the feelings and thoughts that you’re experiencing so that they don’t feel like they’re controlling your life.
ACT and You
ACT can help you live life more fully, even when it’s not perfect. With the help of ACT, you can learn how to acknowledge and accept your feelings and thoughts and take the necessary steps toward the things in your life that matter most to you.
You don’t have to continue fighting your own mind. There’s no better time than now to focus on yourself and work on meeting the goals you have for your future. Reach out today to set up an initial consultation and learn more about ACT.
